METALLOPATHY Evidence on heavy metals in people

Static evidence pages. Grades A to F. Sources named.

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Testing

Are my heavy metal lab levels harmful (interpreting results)?

A percentile from NHANES says where a result sits in the U.S. survey. It does not say the result is harmful. CDC states that the blood lead reference value of 3.5 µg/dL is not a toxicity threshold. For most other metals in this corpus, a verified cutoff that turns one laboratory number into a diagnosis was not found.

How to read the tables on this site

Geometric means and percentiles on the metal pages come from the saved CDC National Report tables for NHANES, mostly 2017 to 2018, total population, unadjusted. CDC's own exposure report presents them as population biomonitoring, and the lead MMWR says the reference value is not a health-based standard. MMWR 2021.

EFSA intake values and EPA reference doses are toxicological guidance for populations or risk assessment. They are not a laboratory's reference interval for one person. Where a value was missing or disagreed with the saved PDF, this site says the evidence is not available rather than printing the draft number.

ACMT says not to order nonspecific metal screens for nonspecific symptoms without excessive exposure, because detectable levels are common and an out-of-range flag can create concern without a diagnosis. Diagnosis, in that statement, needs an exposure history and findings that fit the metal. Choosing Wisely PDF.

Related pages

Sources

  1. CDC MMWR 2021;70(43), doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7043a4
  2. CDC National Report data tables
  3. ACMT and AACT Choosing Wisely list

Heavy Metal Index

Heavy Metal Index: ICP-MS testing. This Heavy Metal Index URL returned HTTP 200 on 15 October 2026. Figures on this page are not copied from that index. They come from the sources named above.

What's safe to buy

The Heavy Metal Tested and Certified public register listed no licensees on 15 October 2026. That page reported 0 certified brands and 0 certified products, and it stated that no brand has completed the three-lot baseline. A specimen layout on the register is an illustration, not a licensee. This page does not name or rank any brand.

The program states that certification is a measurement of a product against a published limit, not a statement that the product is safe. If a licensee is later listed for this category, it will be on the register.

This page summarizes cited documents. It does not diagnose or prescribe. Reviewed 15 October 2026.