Click the image below to read the full guide on the EPA’s site, or click THIS LINK for a full downloadable PDF of the two-page info-sheet.
Once you have taken a look at it, please do let me know if you have any questions.
Standards to know in looking for efficient water filtration:
- 15 Parts Per Billion (ppb): The Federal standard at or above which tap-water is considered to have an unsafe level of Lead.
- 5 ppb: The Federal standard at or above which bottled-water is considered to have an unsafe level of Lead.
- 1 ppb: The standard set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (click this link for more info) at or above which water-fountain-water in schools is considered to have an unsafe level of Lead.
AAP Report from August 2017
As always, my opinion is that you should shoot for the strictest standard to protect your children and therefore the water they drink should be below 1 ppb Lead.
Thank you for reading and for sharing my posts!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
I love the various websites of Lead Safe Mama, Tamara Rubin. She’s raising so much public awareness that in turn can only be saving brains, saving childhoods, saving people’s health, saving lives, saving relationships, and saving human environments.
My main dietary salt for quite a few years has been pink Himalayan salt. Curious about the salt’s content of particularly lead (and other heavy metals), I found the following web page today.
https://themeadow.com/pages/minerals-in-himalayan-pink-salt-spectral-analysis
Because the mineral chart there indicates that Himalayan salt contains about .10 ppm lead, I searched for a reference to the person who seems to be the world’s expert on everyday lead exposure, identifying it, and how to avoid it: “Lead Safe Mama,” Tamara Rubin. I want/ed to find a ball-park safe level for lead for when health minded people cannot obtain the preferred lead level of “zero”!
Above, on Ms. Rubin’s web page here, I found the suggestion that schools’ water fountain water should have less than 1ppB lead — and of course ideally none.
But I’m trying to figure out how to convert the .10 ppM lead in Himalayan salt (according to the salt link I included here) to ppB, so that I can compare the level of lead with that amount set for schools’ water fountain water —- shown above in Ms. Rubin’s article.
Unfortunately, my math wasn’t successful even at high school levels and is rusty now. In lieu, I’m trying to get clarity through Google, but that’s not helping me with my Questions.
Q: If there are 1,000 ppB in 1 ppM, does that mean the equivalent of .10 ppM lead is 100 ppB lead? Or is my math wrong?
Q: Moreover, is it even mathematically and physiologically appropriate to compare a lead level that is appropriate for public drinking water to a lead level that is appropriate for salt?
My main dietary salt for quite a few years has been pink Himalayan salt. My health is one of my very highest priorities. (Limited by chronic health conditions and related low income, or/and by low income related to chronic health conditions.)
So, if there’s a healthier salt out there — with less lead (and hopefully low in other heavy metals, neurotoxins, carcinogens, etc.), I definitely would stop using Himalayan salt!
Q: Is there?
Everyone’s different, and I’m one of the people who cannot stop using salt, because my blood pressure tends to be too low, and because (after saving my life when my blood pressure and electrolytes were too low a few years ago) doctors told me I need to eat more salt. (Also, a pretty persuasive book came out a few years ago about the necessity and health benefits of eating sufficient salt. It’s in my postscript.)
Q: Because governments have permitted corporations to so heavily pollute oceans, including with lead, other heavy metals, micro-plastics, and other poisons, I’m not certain that sea salt is an altogether safe dietary option anymore. Is it?
I suspect that a LOT of people would like to know the answers to these kinds of questions and basically what kind of salt is healthiest! Most people ingest salt everyday! Ms. Rubin, if you feel the same way and if you have the time, thank you for any helpful answers. If I should post this elsewhere, please consider letting me know so I can. Then I will.
Thank you again, Lead Safe Mama, for your health and life saving work in raising public awareness of lead and other heavy metals!
p.s. My understanding is that sea salt contains far fewer minerals than Himalayan salt. I don’t trust the various, mostly undeclared things that are permitted and put in “table salt.”
p.p.s. The salt book to which I was referring is: _The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong–And How Eating More Might Save Your Life_. By James DiNicolantonio, 2017. Description on GoodReads: “What if everything you know about salt is wrong? A leading cardiovascular research scientist explains how this vital crystal got a negative reputation, and shows how to lower blood pressure and experience weight loss using salt. The Salt Fix is essential reading for everyone on the keto diet!” https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30555572-the-salt-fix
p.p.s. I have no vested interest or connection whatsoever either (1) in the website, sales, or company related to the Himalayan salt link to which my post referred, or (2) in the unrelated salt book to which my post referred. 🙂
I found the following salt related articles through “Lead Safe Mama,” Tamara Rubin’s search feature, on this website that you and I are reading now: TamaraRubin.com. (Sequence: chronological, beginning with the earliest articles.)
Some of the articles address some of the questions I asked above.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DECEMBER 2, 2017 · 5 COMMENTS
Himalayan Pink Salt lamp: Lead-free [down to single-digit-ppm range]. Himalayan salt: safe for lamps (but not safe in food!).
https://tamararubin.com/2017/12/himalayan-pink-salt-lamp-lead-free-down-to-single-digit-ppm-range-of-testing-safe-for-a-lamp-but-not-safe-as-food/
. . . . . . .
FEBRUARY 15, 2019 · 2 COMMENTS
The EPA has a new consumer tool to help you determine if your home water filter removes lead.
https://tamararubin.com/2019/02/the-epa-has-a-new-consumer-tool-to-help-you-determine-if-your-home-water-filter-removes-lead/
. . . . . . .
DECEMBER 20, 2019 · 24 COMMENTS
Which salt do you use in your kitchen, Tamara? [Hint: Pink Himalayan salt is among the highest Lead content salts!]
https://tamararubin.com/2019/12/asktamara-what-kind-of-salt-do-you-use-in-your-kitchen/
. . . . . . .
OCTOBER 21, 2020 · 110 COMMENTS
How much Lead is in salt? Which salt is safest to use for cooking? Is Himalayan salt safe?
https://tamararubin.com/2020/10/how-much-lead-is-in-salt-which-salt-is-safest-to-use-for-cooking-is-himalayan-salt-safe/
. . . . . . .
FEBRUARY 16, 2021 · 2 COMMENTS
Redmond asked me where I came up with the 167 ppb Lead result for their Real Salt product. Click through to read my response.
https://tamararubin.com/2021/02/redmond-asked-me-where-i-came-up-with-the-167-ppb-lead-result-for-their-real-salt-product-click-through-to-read-my-response/
. . . . . . .
FEBRUARY 16, 2021 · 6 COMMENTS
Redmond Salt just wrote me. Click through to read my response.
https://tamararubin.com/2021/02/redmond-salt-just-wrote-me-click-through-to-read-my-response/
p.s. Forgot to add that: I have no vested interests in the company whatsoever. 🙂
Ms. Rubin, while searching for a healthy dietary salt, I stumbled across this website from the USA’s Pacific Northwest in Washington. (The information is dated April 3, 2014.) One of your lowest lead salts (Cyprus Black Mediterranean Sea Salt) might have been produced by the same company, “SaltWorks,” although it doesn’t appear on the company’s product webpage.
SaltWorks, in the press release I’ve copied below, makes several references to heavy metals, and describes a proprietary filtering system, “that dedicates specific filters to specific unwanted metals, all while maintaining the perfect salt-making temperature.”
Though I searched the SaltWorks website, I was unable to locate any numbers representing the level of lead or other heavy metals in the company’s feature salt: “Snowflake Pacific Northwest Sea Salt.” But this is how the SaltWorks company describes its featured salt:
“SNOWFLAKE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SEA SALT IS THE ONLY WHOLE MINERAL, ARTISANAL SEA SALT
FILTERED FOR ALL TRACES OF UNDESIRED HEAVY METALS,
WHILE LEAVING BENEFICIAL MINERALS INTACT—LIKE POTASSIUM, IODINE, MAGNESIUM AND BROMIDE.
SALTWORKS PRESENTS A CLEANER, HEALTHIER, ALL-NATURAL SEA SALT.”
(The “bromide” leaves me concerned for the thyroid, as it’s been my understanding that bromide, like fluoride, competes with iodine in the thyroid gland, but other than that …)
Seems MANY people are looking for a safe dietary salt. And most people need one. So, below, I have pasted information about the company’s feature salt, which the company says it has filtered for all traces of heavy metals, and I’ve included the company’s contact information in case the company would be willing to provide someone of your stature their featured salt’s levels of lead and other heavy metals.
Thank you again, Ms. Rubin, for your public service of sharing information to raise awareness of the necessity of avoiding lead and other heavy metals.
May the “metals movement” sufficiently grow that people will increasingly vote with their dollars and spread the word, and
that governments will notice and step up to their responsibilities to protect everyone’s health.
p.s. I have no vested interests in the SaltWorks company whatsoever.
_____________________________________________________________
The press release . . .
_____________________________________________________________
https://seasalt.com/about/press/saltworks-announces-snowflake-sea-salt
America’s Sea Salt Company | SaltWorks® / About SaltWorks / SaltWorks Press & Media / SaltWorks Announces
Snowflake: An All-Natural Innovation in Sea Salt
SALTWORKS ANNOUNCES SNOWFLAKE: AN ALL-NATURAL INNOVATION IN SEA SALT
SNOWFLAKE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SEA SALT IS THE ONLY WHOLE MINERAL, ARTISANAL SEA SALT FILTERED FOR ALL TRACES OF UNDESIRED HEAVY METALS, WHILE LEAVING BENEFICIAL MINERALS INTACT—LIKE POTASSIUM, IODINE, MAGNESIUM AND BROMIDE. SALTWORKS PRESENTS A CLEANER, HEALTHIER, ALL-NATURAL SEA SALT.
WOODINVILLE, Wash., April 3, 2014 — Anyone can make sea salt, but like any craft, a true artisan obsesses over how it can be done best, and how each detail impacts the final result.
SaltWorks announces Snowflake Pacific Northwest Sea Salt: the first sea salt that is harvested with the same time-honored techniques as ancient French paludiers but also with modern considerations and capabilities. This is a revolutionary step toward a cleaner, healthier way to harvest and consume all-natural, whole mineral sea salt.
Mineral-rich sea salt is composed of the same trace minerals found in our bodies, promoting balance and synchronicity.
For 13 years, SaltWorks CEO Mark Zoske has been proud to introduce customers to the best gourmet salts in the world, all natural and never refined. However, skeptics of the sea salt boom voiced concerns over the trace heavy metals present in the mineral composition. But if pure sodium chloride (refined salt) wreaks havoc on human bodies as studies suggest, what is the solution to sea salt woes?
This question provoked Mark’s next big mission: craft a process for harvesting the first sea salt that completely adheres to the ancient artisan standards while using modern capabilities to eliminate the heavy metals—something pre-industrial French paludiers had little concern for.
It’s worth noting that when put up against the beneficial trace minerals in sea salt, most argue that the traces of metals are so minuscule that it’s nothing to be concerned with, and it’s still better than using refined salt. “Regardless, if we can develop a process that results in the best-case scenario for locally harvested sea salt,” Zoske explains, “then why not do it?”
Developing this proprietary process with respect to old world methods meant following a few principles: the salt never touches metal, it is naturally evaporated, air dried, and contains zero additives.
First, to rid the water of heavy metals, it runs through a proprietary filtering system developed by SaltWorks that dedicates specific filters to specific unwanted metals, all while maintaining the perfect salt-making temperature.
Temperature is crucial. The ideal temperature helps to form the perfect crystal, while retaining all the beneficial minerals. Sea salt is the result of solar evaporation in nature, not boiling.
To ensure the sea water remains clean during the evaporation process, SaltWorks salt ponds are lined with a material initially developed for the NASA International Space Station. These modern upgrades guarantee the ponds remain free of any outside impurities, resulting in a mineral-rich salt that is pure white. Some unfiltered mineral-rich salts are colored because of the clay-lined ponds, which imparts a unique mineral composition.
The finest salts in the world are harvested using only wood tools, and it’s been that way for centuries. Snowflake is no exception. The only time sea salt should come in contact with metal is when it touches your fork or spoon. Snowflake salt ponds are free of any metal, as is the rest of the process. Even exposed hardware—from the nuts and bolts that secure it—have a protective plastic coating.
Once the fine, flakey crystals form in the salt ponds, they are gently harvested, and placed on large ventilated screens to air dry for a carefully developed amount of time before being packaged for consumers. Dryers are never used to rush this process.
Nowhere else in the world is a sea salt being produced that delivers the ideal balance of old and new methods for the cleanest, healthiest, all-natural option. Snowflake Pacific Northwest Sea Salt was released to the market first in 2010 after the proprietary process was finalized. Consumer demand reinforced the value of the product, encouraging Zoske to put more steam into its production. Now, after expanded production capabilities, SaltWorks is excited to offer Snowflake Pacific Northwest Sea Salt in limited catering sized quantities for restaurants and chocolatiers.
About SaltWorks®, Inc.
The most trusted name in the salt business, SaltWorks has been satisfying salt enthusiasts around the world since 2001.
Serving wholesale, distributor, and bulk customers as well as individual consumers, SaltWorks offers a superior selection of the highest quality all-natural sea and mineral salts in a range of exact grain sizes and quantities to suit any application. The first and largest specialty salt company in the world, SaltWorks truly pioneered the gourmet salt business and produces the finest brands including Artisan® Salt Company, Fusion® naturally flavored salts, Ancient Ocean® Himalayan Pink Salt, Pure Ocean® Atlantic Sea Salt, Pacific Blue® Kosher Flake Sea Salt, Ultra Epsom® and Bokek® Premium Dead Sea Salt. SaltWorks continues to revolutionize the natural salt industry with their steadfast dedication to innovation, product integrity and world-class customer service. Proudly certified SQF level 2 with an Excellent rating, SaltWorks is also fully HAACP and GMP accredited by NSF International®. All SaltWorks products are all natural, kosher certified and guaranteed for purity and quality.
Discover the SaltWorks Difference and shop the best sea salts in the world at http://www.seasalt.com.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
CONTACT
(800) 353-7258
CONTACT US
Representatives are available Mon – Fri 8 am – 4 pm PST
(800) 353-7258 (toll free)
(425) 885-7258
CustomerSupport@seasalt.com
SALTWORKS ADDRESS
SaltWorks®, Inc.
16240 Wood-Red Rd NE
Woodinville, WA 98072
USA