Brushing your teeth may protect you from germs, but it could also expose you to large amounts of heavy metals, which could disrupt many important body functions.
A new investigation has uncovered that many popular toothpaste brands are contaminated with dangerous heavy metals like lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium, which could be posing serious health hazards to adults and children alike. And with the frequency in which toothpastes are used, this poses an alarming risk.
The alarming findings, based on lab testing commissioned by Lead Safe Mama, show that over 90% of the 51 toothpastes tested contained lead, a known neurotoxin with no safe level of exposure. Almost 65% contained arsenic, and a little less than half had mercury, while one-third had cadmium.
The levels are in violation with Washington’s limits, but not federal limits. Public health advocates often criticize these thresholds for not being protective enough. Federal government says that no levels of lead is safe for health.
“It’s unconscionable – especially in 2025,” said Tamara Rubin, Lead Safe Mama’s founder. “What’s really interesting to me is that no one thought this was a concern.”
What inspired the investigation
Tamara Rubin, founder of Lead Safe Mama, first uncovered the presence of lead in toothpaste over a decade ago while working with families whose children had elevated blood lead levels. In each case, a common factor emerged – the children had been using a brand of toothpaste called Earthpaste, which was later found to contain lead.
Using an XRF lead detection tool, Rubin tested several toothpaste brands and detected alarmingly high levels of heavy metals. Concerned by the results, she launched a crowdfunding campaign to send samples of popular toothpaste brands to an independent lab for detailed analysis. The findings were shocking. Well-known names such as Crest, Sensodyne, Tom’s of Maine, Dr. Bronner’s, Davids, and Dr. Jen were among those had lead, arsenic, mercury, or cadmium.
Despite the findings, Rubin said none of the companies responded with plans to eliminate the toxins from their products. Instead, some sent her cease-and-desist letters, which she publicly shared on her blog. While several manufacturers defended their products by arguing that trace amounts of lead are unavoidable due to environmental exposure, others dismissed the detected levels as insignificant.
There is a lack of specific federal regulations on heavy metal content in toothpaste. Although the Baby Food Safety Act of 2024, proposes a 10 parts per billion (ppb) lead limit for children’s food, and California has set an even stricter 6 ppb limit, no such limits currently apply to toothpaste, leaving a concerning regulatory gap in consumer safety.
The FDA allows up to 10,000 ppb of lead in fluoride-free toothpaste and 20,000 ppb in fluoride varieties, none of the tested brands exceeded these limits. However, several did surpass Washington state’s new, stricter limit of 1,000 ppb, though companies still have time to comply.
Rubin said some of the ingredients added to toothpaste like hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate and bentonite clay could be increasing heavy metal exposure. Hydroxyapatite, extracted from cow bone allegedly helps teeth absorb calcium, though Rubin said she doubts it does. Calcium carbonate is added to the toothpaste brands to help remove stains from teeth. Bentonite clay is a cleaning agent.
A few children’s toothpastes, like Dr Brown’s Baby Toothpaste, were not found to have any metals.
Dangers of heavy metals
When heavy metals exposure exceed the permissible limit, it accumulates in the body and attach to the cells, preventing them from performing their functions. They can also disrupt cardiovascular function and cause liver injury. This can be even life-threatening.
Lead can cause brain damage in children, and harm the kidneys. Heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic are all considered carcinogens.
Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning include abdominal pain, chills or a low body temperature, dehydration, diarrhea, feeling weak, nausea or vomiting, a scratchy feeling in your throat, numbness or prickly sensation in your hands and feet.
However, in many cases it can turn life-threatening. Abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia), anemia, brain damage and memory loss, issues in breathing, kidney damage, liver damage, and miscarriage are some of the serious consequences of heavy metal exposure.
What is heavy metal poisoning?
Heavy metal poisoning is the accumulation of various heavy metals in our bodies. Environmental and industrial factors expose us to high levels of heavy metals daily, including foods and air.
