Are heavy metals in your products? (and how to tell)
Are heavy metals in your products? (and how to tell)
The risk of heavy metals in products
Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury pose significant risks to human health and maybe present in a number of your products. As regulations strengthen and public awareness grows, accurate and reliable testing has never been more important. Our UK laboratory uses a best-in-class ICP-MS to accurately detect the presence of metals and minerals in products.
What are heavy metals and why test for them?
Heavy metals are naturally occurring metallic elements that can become toxic, even at low concentrations. Pollutants from industry, pesticides from agriculture and vehicle exhaust fumes can increase levels of metals in the environment resulting in contamination of the soil and water supply. Botanicals and plants such as hemp and tobacco can absorb heavy metals and other compounds from the soil and vape devices can generate metals through usage.
What products are at risk of contamination?
botanicals
CBD and hemp products vaping devices.
cosmetics
food supplements
mushrooms
vaping devices.
Also, certain manufacturing processes may risk contamination from metals.
For those reasons, it's important to test products to ensure that are safe and comply with regulations.
Regulatory focus:
General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005: all products sold in the UK must be safe to consume
Regulation (EC) no 1881/2006 (England & Wales): provides maximum levels for metals in food
Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 (Northern Ireland): provides maximum levels for metals in food
EU Cosmetic Regulation 1223/2009: limits heavy metals in cosmetics.
Case study: Adopting a routine testing strategy to improve product safety
A leading manufacturer implemented regular metals testing. Their return of investment was repaid when, within six months they:
identified two raw materials exceeding cadmium limits
reformed their supplier approval process and improve compliance
reduced the costly risk of products being pulled off the shelves and product recalls.
Analytical testing using best-in-class ICP-MS:
accurate testing from a UK lab working to ISO standards in 10-15 days
best-in-class testing for metal and mineral impurities using Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICP-MS)
UKAS 17025:2017 accredited testing for vape and CBD products
technical support from scientists with a wealth of experience.
Call us today
We can guide you through regulatory compliance and testing for heavy metals. Further information is available on adactmedical.com/heavy-metals-testing.
Call our friendly team today on +44(0)1302 986088 or email hello@adactmedical.com.