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Alarming new research has found that toothpastes are often contaminated with lead and other heavy metals.
In tests conducted by the lead safety activist Tamara Rubin, who runs the website Lead Safe Mama, 90 percent of the 51 examined brands were found to contain the toxic metal — in some cases at levels exceeding a state safety limit, The Guardian reports.
A number of household names feature unflatteringly, including Crest Regular toothpaste, Colgate Total Whitening toothpaste, and Sensodyne Extra Whitening toothpaste. But most distressing is the over two dozen brands explicitly marketed for children that were implicated by the findings: Colgate Watermelon Burst, a “Paw Patrol” branded Orajel Kids Anticavity toothpaste, and Tom’s of Maine Kid’s Natural toothpaste.
Other heavy metals plagued the lineup, too. 65 percent of the brands contain arsenic, according to the tests, 47 percent contain mercury, and 35 percent contain cadmium.
“It’s unconscionable — especially in 2025,” Rubin told The Guardian. “What’s really interesting to me is that no one thought this was a concern.”
The Food and Drug Administration limit for lead in fluoride-free toothpastes is 10,000 parts per billion (ppb). None of the toothpastes here exceeded that, but it’s important to note that no amount of lead exposure is considered safe, especially in children. Exposure to lead in infancy and childhood can damage the brain and nervous system, leading to lifelong learning and behavioral disabilities and lower IQ, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In recent years, Washington state has adopted a stricter 1,000 ppb lead limit in cosmetics, including toothpastes. In Lead Safe Mama’s testing, three variants from Redmond, VanMan’s, and Primal exceeded that, with the worst offender, Primal, reaching 7,800 ppb.
There’re even stricter limits for children, the Guardian notes. California’s lead limit in baby food is six ppb, and the Baby Food Safety Act of 2024, which still awaits congressional approval, has it at 10 ppb. All but five of the tested brands were over that.
Lead Safe Mama was the first to crack that Stanley Cups — yes, remember that whole debacle? — contained lead. Largely run by Rubin, the organization also claims responsibility for six product recalls since 2022. Most of its tests use an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) lead detection tool, a non-destructive form of detection. Rubin has received some criticism for allegedly profiting off its alarming claims through affiliate links for “lead-free” products on its website.
What is causing the lead contamination is unclear. Rubin suspects that it may lie in some of the ingredients added to the toothpaste, including hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and bentonite clay, she told the Guardian.
“A foundation of the work of LSM is the understanding (and agreement with the scientific and medical consensus) that there is no safe level of lead exposure for humans,” Rubin wrote in a post accompanying the researchers, “and that we (as consumers) should demand that companies be held accountable for manufacturing and selling lead-contaminated products, especially products marketed and sold for use by children.”
More on contamination: You Might Not Want to Touch Receipts After Seeing This Horrifying Research