How limits are set
These products sit outside the food and dietary-supplement frameworks, but they are elemental-impurity-governed as pharmaceuticals. ICH Q3D(R2), harmonized across the US, EU, and Japan and enforceable through USP <232>-<233>, sets permitted daily exposures for elemental impurities in drug products and, in Table A.2.2, the corresponding route-based concentration limits (Option 1, for daily intakes of 10 grams or less). HMTc adopts those Table A.2.2 concentrations as the binding ceiling for this class, applied by route: oral products (SARMs, orally-dosed research chemicals) take the oral limits; injectable, nasal, and sublingual products take the stricter parenteral limits. Aluminium, which ICH Q3D does not address, is bound by the FDA large-volume-parenteral limit (21 CFR 201.323) on injectables.
Every analyte is measured on every lot by validated ICP-MS with reflex inorganic-arsenic speciation. Inorganic arsenic and methylmercury are bounded by their parent totals, and hexavalent chromium by total chromium (ICH Q3D governs chromium as the total element). Certification here is heavy-metal safety only: HMTc does not endorse, approve, or vouch for the efficacy or the legality of these products; the mark speaks solely to an elemental-impurity burden held within the ICH Q3D ceiling on the tested lot.
Master Limit Table
All values in ppb (µg/kg), as-sold basis. 8 of 11 analytes carry a firm ceiling; the remaining 3 are toxic species bounded by their parent totals (species ≤ total, measured on every lot), so every analyte carries an enforceable ceiling. A brand meeting every value on a like-for-like basis qualifies for the mark.
| Analyte | HMTc limit | Binding basis |
|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 500 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 200 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | 1500 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | bounded | ≤ total tAs, measured every lot (see note) |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | 300 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | bounded | ≤ total tHg, measured every lot (see note) |
| Nickel (Ni) | 2000 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Tin (Sn) | 60000 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Aluminium (Al) | 25 | government read-across (FDA) |
| Total chromium (Cr) | 110000 | government read-across (ICH) |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | bounded | ≤ total Cr, measured every lot (see note) |
Every claim analyte is equal at the gate. A product is certified only when every analyte is at or below 100% of its published government floor or disclosed read-across; above the limit, on any metal, it is not certified and carries no mark.
Derivation
For Nasal/sublingual/troche gray-market peptide preparations (mucosal route), each HMTc limit is the strictest maximum level any credible government sets for the product, named in the Binding column with the count of jurisdictions that concur at that value. Where no government regulates the analyte, the cell is a mandatory control or a not-material determination, never an invented number.
| Analyte | HMTc | Binding | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | 500 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 200 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Total arsenic (tAs) | 1500 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Inorganic arsenic (iAs) | bounded | ≤ tAs | bounded by parent total |
| Mercury, total (tHg) | 300 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Methylmercury (MeHg) | bounded | ≤ tHg | bounded by parent total |
| Nickel (Ni) | 2000 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Tin (Sn) | 60000 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Aluminium (Al) | 25 | FDA | disclosed read-across |
| Total chromium (Cr) | 110000 | ICH | disclosed read-across |
| Hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) | bounded | ≤ Cr | bounded by parent total |
Risk Flag
On the published occurrence literature to date, Nasal/sublingual/troche gray-market peptide preparations (mucosal route) shows no systematic gap between typical market levels and the limit — the limit being the strictest government maximum for the product (Method v2.0). Certification is decided on a product’s own tested result, not on a distribution; an individual lot or supplier can still exceed a limit.
See the cross-category summary of the ingredients that most often struggle.
Cite this standard
Pendergrass, K. (2026). Nasal/sublingual/troche gray-market peptide preparations (mucosal route): HMTc standard (Standard No. 10.83138/hmtc.std.26.peptides-nasal-sublingual). Institute of Contaminant Standards. https://doi.org/10.83138/hmtc.std.26.peptides-nasal-sublingual
© 2026 Institute of Contaminant Standards / Heavy Metal Certified. All rights reserved.
The literature baseline for every analyte is maintained independently at the Heavy Metal Index. This certification standard applies those findings; the two are kept editorially separate by design.