Originally Published: December 2, 2017
When tested with an XRF instrument, the Himalayan Pink Salt lamp pictured here had the following readings:
- Lead (Pb): Non-Detect / Negative
- Cadmium (Cd): Non-Detect / Negative
- Mercury (Hg): Non-Detect / Negative
- Arsenic (As): Non-Detect / Negative
- Chromium: 923 ppm
Note: Himalayan salt is safe for a lamp but not safe as food!
Please note FOOD items (and water) are toxic for lead when lead is present and measured in the range of single- to double-digit parts per billion (ppb) NOT single- to double-digit parts per million (ppm) — which is the range of detection of most XRF technology. PPM is the range used for toxicity in consumer goods, with children’s items considered toxic at 90 ppm Lead or higher.
One single part per million (ppm) is ONE THOUSAND parts per billion (ppb).
So even if an object is “negative” for Lead – with an XRF instrument – that measurement does not ensure it is also 100% negative for Lead to the level we would want to see for food products. An XRF cannot test for Lead down to that level of specificity; the best portable handheld XRF instruments test for Lead only down to the single digits of parts per million. To determine if food is “Lead-safe”, sophisticated, ultra-sensitive laboratory testing must be done.
How many “ppb” is safe in food?
Anything that is consumed by humans (beverages, foods, supplements, toothpaste, etc.) is generally considered (by both scientists and public regulatory agencies) to have an unsafe level of Lead when it tests positive for Lead in the 1 to 100 parts per billion (ppb) range, depending on the specific item in question (and which regulatory standard or scientific recommendation you look at.) Here are some common current standards:
- 1 ppb = hazard level for water in school fountains [AAP* standard]
- 5 ppb = hazard level for bottled water [U.S EPA regulation]
- 15 ppb = hazard level for tap water in your home [U.S. EPA regulation]
- 50 ppb = hazard level for fruit juice [U.S. FDA regulation]
- 100 ppb = hazard level for candy & dried fruit [U.S. FDA regulation]
*American Academy of Pediatrics
That said, Himalayan pink salt (the kind you would use in cooking, not what you would use in a lamp) has been tested in a laboratory setting and found to be positive for lead at unsafe levels in the 100 to 400 parts per billion range (or higher!). As a result we stopped using Himalayan pink salt for food usage in our home and stick with sea salts instead.
Additional reading / considerations:
- Here’s a post I wrote recently about the considerations I personally have when choosing salt (for cooking) for my family
- Here’s an Amazon affiliate link to one of the types of salt we use in our home*
- I would consider something like this lamp #LeadSafe (and even #LeadFree) when used as intended (not used for consumption as food)
- Here’s a similar pink salt lamp on Amazon
- In general, I avoid using all excavated (land-mined) salts for cooking – in favor of salts recovered from evaporated seawater
- For more help making #SaferChoices for your family, click here
To make a contribution in support of the independent consumer goods testing and lead poisoning prevention advocacy work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC – click here. Thank you!
As always please let me know if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them personally as soon as I have a moment! Thank you for reading and for sharing the posts and articles from Lead Safe Mama dot com1
Tamara Rubin
Owner – Lead Safe Mama, LLC
#LeadSafeMama
*Amazon links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links I will receive a small percentage of what you spend, at no extra cost to you!
Thank you 🙂
Do you feel Himalayan salt candle holders are acceptable to use? Do you believe they release lead or are they safe?
We have been using pink salt (McCormick) for past few months and my daughter is only 3.5! I feel terrible. 🙁
Most her meals don’t have salt (i.e. oatmeal, fruits, veggies, etc.) but she has definitely had it.
How concerned should we be? She seems fine. Haven’t had a doctor appointment since 3 years… should we go for lead test or just discontinue and get the lead test for her at 4?
Is this all brands of pink salt or just that one brand you linked to? We use a different brand so I’m wondering if it’s safe, but I’m assuming not?
All brands.
T
Oh!!!! really? I am using pink salt…so I should go back to sea salt… I feel bad that I have been using it for a few years… but thank you for letting us know… I will go back to sea salt…
Doesn’t sea salt contain plastics and mercury?
what brand of sea salt do you recommend? also, I use a ton of pink salt in the past (until today lol) I had no idea– I have a condition where I need to salt my water! is there something I should do to detox from lead? UGHHHHH
Thank you for this Tamara you’re the best!
Do you know if the cords of these lamps typically contain lead or nowadays antimony?
Thank you
Sea water and thus sea salts are full of microplastics, bisphenols, phthalates, etc. which are equally problematic from a health perspective. That’s why I switched to Himalayan salts. Is there a way to have a specific brand of salt tested for heavy metals?
All of the Himalayan salts have unsafe levels of heavy metals. The Jacobsen sea salts are pretty clean – that’s what I use for my family:
https://tamararubin.com/2019/12/asktamara-what-kind-of-salt-do-you-use-in-your-kitchen/
Tamara
Thanks for researching; just to clarify, when you say all Himalayan salts, do you mean all brands of Himalayan pink salt, or all colors of Himalayan salt, like Himalayan black salt, too? A friend gifted me the black salt version which I’d never seen/heard of before.
can we find a reliably safe himalayan salt lamp, soak that in hot water for a long time to dissolve, and then use this water for cooking or dehydrate it to get the salt (we have freeze dryer)?
I know this is an older post but PLEASE do NOT consider doing this! I think you may have misread Tamara’s post. She said a salt lamp is the ONLY pink Himalayan salt that should ever be in your house because is isn’t NOT ingested. I post this for anyone else you may have misread/ misunderstood her post.
So you’re saying
Dried fruit is considered toxic for consumption at 100 ppb and up.
Candy is considered toxic for consumption at 100 ppb and up.
Salt is generally is consumed in smaller portions than dried fruit.
The website you liked is saying
Lead .. 82.. 0.10 ppm..
Using your conversion chart: 0.10 ppm *1000 = 100 ppb, the lowest level dried fruit and candy is considered toxic.
Again, if the salt is consumed in much smaller amounts than dried fruit, then why 100 ppb for salt is an issue?
The salt varies in toxic metals content batch-to-batch and is often much higher than that.
Please read this for some additional context:
https://tamararubin.com/2023/12/to-get-a-beneficial-amount-of-the-trace-minerals-found-in-some-salts-i-e-himalayan-celtic-real-salt-etc-you-would-need-to-eat-a-lethal-amount-of-salt/
T
Hello, Tamara
Is there any issue with this Himalayan salt lamps leaching toxins in the air as they get hota?
Sea salt is problematic because of the micro plastics found in it. You are replacing metro chemical (micro-plastics) with 74 ( ± 105) microplastics kg-1 to 1155 ( ± 140) microplastics kg-1. Need a good salt solution if pink salt has high lead content.
My understanding is that Jacobsen’s also tests well for Microplastics.