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Heavy Metal CertifiedWhy we limit

Why we limit each metal

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Why the Heavy Metal Tested & Certified program limits each metal on its panel, in food and, for antimony, in baby wipes: one synthesis page per metal, tying the toxicological basis, the exposure reality, and the vulnerable populations to the case for a certification limit.

Every metal on the HMTc panel is limited for a reason that can be stated from the government and expert-body record. These pages give that reason, one metal at a time: the toxicological endpoint and the authoritative basis, which foods, and one non-food product (baby wipes), carry the metal and roughly how much, the people the exposure reaches, and why a certification limit is warranted where a label claim is not. The agency-by-agency assessments are on the analyte panel; the numeric limits are on the standards register; the complete literature is on the Heavy Metal Index.

The panel, metal by metal

9 metals, ordered as the panel is listed: the four priority toxics first, then the four additional claim analytes, then antimony, limited only in the baby wipes standard. Every claim analyte is equal at the gate.

Pb Why we limit lead Lead is the one contaminant where every major body has declined to name a safe dose — so the whole certification frame is to drive it as low as the supply chain can reach. Total elemental lead Cd Why we limit cadmium Cadmium is not cleared — it accumulates in the kidney for decades — so the only control is to keep intake low across a lifetime. Total elemental cadmium iAs Why we limit inorganic arsenic Inorganic arsenic is a carcinogen with no safe intake, and everyday diets — especially rice-based infant foods — already reach the point the cancer assessment is anchored to. Inorganic arsenic, speciated from total MeHg Why we limit methylmercury Methylmercury crosses the placenta into the developing brain, has no safe threshold, and concentrates in predatory fish — where cooking does nothing to remove it. Methylmercury, speciated from total Ni Why we limit nickel Nickel is the metal where ordinary diets already run over the tolerable intake — and the most-exposed children run over it further. Total elemental nickel Sn Why we limit tin Tin is the honest outlier on the panel: its limit guards against an acute stomach upset from failing can linings, not chronic toxicity or cancer. Total elemental tin (inorganic) Al Why we limit aluminium Aluminium is poorly absorbed but slowly cleared — so ordinary intake can still run up against a low tolerable weekly limit, especially in infants. Total elemental aluminium Cr Why we limit chromium Chromium is a tale of two forms: the trivalent one is a nutrient, the hexavalent one is a carcinogen — so the whole discipline is telling them apart. Total chromium; Cr(VI) on trigger Sb Why we limit antimony Antimony is limited in one HMTc standard, baby wipes, and in no food. The ceiling is total antimony in the finished wipe, taken from a voluntary EU Ecolabel criterion. Total elemental antimony

9 items under this folder.