Garden of Life Organics Prenatal Multi Whole Food Multivitamin Tests Positive for Lead, Cadmium, & Arsenic: November 2024 Laboratory Report
Quick note from Tamara Rubin:
The lab report for this prenatal vitamin shows the product tests positive for unacceptable levels of heavy metals. In addition to testing positive for Lead (a highly potent neurotoxin that interferes with fetal development, even at very low/ trace levels), and Cadmium (a known Carcinogen), the level of Arsenic found in this product is the highest level of Arsenic in any prenatal vitamin we have tested to date.
Outside of the concerns for prenatal Cadmium and Arsenic exposure, there is no safe level of Lead exposure (period). Lead accumulates in the body over a lifetime. When present in the body, Lead biomimics Calcium and has the potential to disrupt nearly all biological functions. This is especially true for women of childbearing age. If you would like a better understanding of the impacts of Lead exposure, I would encourage you to watch the documentary film I directed and produced. It is currently available to watch for free on YouTube. Here’s the direct link.
The full lab report for the product pictured above is below (at the bottom of this page) — please scroll down. I personally don’t think any supplements alleging to have any health benefits should test positive for any level of Lead (or other heavy metals for that matter). Supplements (and especially prenatal vitamins) should be free of toxic heavy metals.
Some additional reading:
- 2018 report discussing the concern for unsafe levels of Arsenic (and other heavy metals) in prenatal vitamins
- 2023 FIGO (International Federation of Gynegology and Obstetrics) report on toxic chemicals and enviromental contaminants in prenatal vitamins
- August 2023 report on toxic element contaminations of prenatal vitamins
Here’s the abstract from the third study linked above:
For those new to the Lead Safe Mama website:
Tamara Rubin is a multiple-federal-award-winning independent advocate for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety, and a documentary filmmaker. She is also a mother of Lead-poisoned children (two of her four sons were acutely Lead-poisoned in 2005).
- Tamara owns and runs Lead Safe Mama, LLC — a unique community collaborative woman-owned small business for childhood Lead poisoning prevention and consumer goods safety.
- Since July 2022, the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC has been responsible for six product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
- All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
- Please check out our press page to see some of the news coverage of our work, linked here.
This is an ad-free article.
Advertising and affiliate income help Lead Safe Mama, LLC cover the costs of the work we do here (independent consumer goods testing and childhood Lead poisoning prevention advocacy). We have removed ads from most of our more widely-read articles (and newly published articles, too — like this one!) to make them easier for you to read. In addition to supporting this work by starting any shopping you might be doing with a click on our affiliate links, if you would like to support the independent consumer goods testing and childhood Lead poisoning prevention advocacy work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC by making a contribution (which will also help us keep our more widely-read articles ad-free), click here. Thank you!
Important Background: What is an Action Level?
Please note the following key points:
The original lab report for this product is below (at the bottom of this page).
The graphic above shows the levels of metals detected in this product (in red) along with the low threshold of detection (in orange, above the action levels discussed/ or in green, below the action levels discussed) for each metal not detected with the laboratory testing Lead Safe Mama, LLC had completed for this product. The numbers are juxtaposed (in blue) to the “Action Level” proposed by the medical and scientific community in 2021 as part of the Baby Food Safety Act. For this round of testing, SimpleLab (our laboratory testing provider) had a change of labs and their low threshold of detection is slightly higher than in previous testing rounds.
- These 2021 levels were proposed as “Action Levels” because they are (in fact) protective of human health.
- An “Action Level” is NOT the same as a “Maximum Allowable Level.”
- Many food manufacturers misinterpret guidance on heavy metals to mean “allowable levels” and consider it reasonable for products to test positive below these levels.
- This is a (perhaps intentional?) misunderstanding/ misinterpretation the food industry makes — a misunderstanding that food manufacturers use to justify the presence of heavy metals in products.
- Heavy metals accumulate in the body.
- It is the cumulative/ aggregate impact of heavy metal exposure (over a lifetime) that makes even small/ incidental/ seemingly trivial exposures particularly damaging and dangerous. You can read more about that here.
- Once a food product has the amount of heavy metal (Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, or Arsenic) noted (above) as the “Action Level,” that product is officially considered (by the scientific and medical community) unsafe for consumption by children as toxicants (found at-or-above these levels) are in the range of heavy metal levels that have been demonstrated to cause lasting harm.
- Action Levels are unrelated to serving size.
- Action Levels are relevant for any amount of a food product that may be consumed (any quantity of the food in question).
- PPB (parts per billion/ ppb) measurements are a percentage (albeit a very small percentage) and apply to any quantity of the food product tested.
- For more discussion about serving size considerations (and why relying on “serving size” to limit toxicant exposure is not a relevant metric/ not a metric protective of human health), read this article.
- These “Action Levels” proposed in 2021 are the levels at which the scientific and medical community believe the manufacturer (or government) needs to take ACTION to fix the problem.
- One “Action” would be for the manufacturer to take steps to reduce the levels of toxicants in the food product.
- Another “Action” would be for the manufacturer to cease sales of the product until the product could be made safe.
- Another “Action” would be for the manufacturer to inform the public that a specific food product has an unsafe level of the metal detected at-or-above the “Action Level” — making a highly-visible public announcement regarding which relevant batches of the product should be recalled/ no longer consumed.
- The Action Levels proposed with the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 were not arbitrary toxicant levels, but were proposed because they are the levels most protective of human health. However, the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 was not passed into law.
- Regardless of the fact the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 never passed into law — and it is therefore legal to have foods and supplements marketed for consumption by children test positive for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic at-or-above these levels — these Action Levels still reflect the current (modern/ relevant) advice of the medical and scientific communities as levels both achievable by the industry and safeguards of infant and toddler health.
- Food and supplement industry lobbyists fought against formalizing these proposed “Action Levels” as a government standard, alleging the levels were unachievable.
- The list of safer choices (below) clearly demonstrate these Action Levels as achievable across a range of food types (salt, flour, coffee, oatmeal, chia seeds, hemp seeds, soy milk, packaged fruit-based snacks, beverages, and more).
- The legitimacy of these levels as “Action Levels”/ “Levels of Concern” (even though they were not adopted as law) is mirrored by the legitimacy of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ level of concern for Lead in water, which is 1 ppb despite the FDA’s official “level of concern” for Lead in water being 15 ppb (you can read more about that here).
“Simply Not Achievable”
To reiterate: While the packaged, processed food industry would have consumers (and the government) believe the standards proposed in 2021 are unachievable, this industry position (an oft-rearticulated response to nearly every set of laboratory test results for food and supplements that we have published to date) is simply not true. It is possible to make safer processed, packaged food products and supplements that fall well below the safety limits for toxicants proposed within the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021. To wit, several of the 19 products listed below tested non-detect for Lead with the low threshold of detection being “less than 1.5 ppb.”
Below is a list of links to the safer products we have identified with laboratory testing. To see the lab report for any of the products below, type the brand name into the search bar at the top of any page on this website (and scroll down to the bottom of the related article). To see the lab report for the product pictured above, please scroll down to the bottom of this article.
Products (foods and supplements) that have tested non-detect for all Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic (with the limits of detection noted in the lab report for the specific product listed, note: There is some variation in the low threshold of detection for some of these lab reports):
- Sea Salt (Oregon USA): https://amzn.to/4dcbk5L
- Organic Einkorn Flour (Italy): https://amzn.to/3LIqxix
- Organic, Gluten-Free, Sprouted Rolled Oats (Canada): https://amzn.to/3WIQ1BN
- Organic, Gluten-Free Chia Seeds (Mexico): https://amzn.to/3YvE7xC
- Organic Espresso Roast Ground Coffee (Multi-Country Origin, Non-USA): https://amzn.to/3yo1eiL
- Grape Tonic: https://amzn.to/4cjFYZu
- Organic Hemp Seeds: https://amzn.to/4e05RP9
- Organic Apple Sauce Pouch: https://amzn.to/3XhWYLe
- Organic Layered Fruit Bars — Strawberry Banana Flavor: https://amzn.to/3WQEekA
- Organic Layered Fruit Bars — Raspberry Lemonade Flavor: https://amzn.to/3XcFsIp
- Organic Soy Milk: https://amzn.to/4dwev8l
- Organic Perilla Seed Oil (Korea): https://amzn.to/3NDt7Yc
- ByHeart Infant Formula (USA-Made): https://amzn.to/48DJjTb
- Kendamil Organic Follow-On Milk (European/ British Toddler Formula, for 6-12 months): Link (not available on Amazon)
- Holle Bio Goat Stage 2 Infant Formula (for 6-10 months, organic, European — Swiss/ German/ Austrian): Link (not available on Amazon)
- The Stage 3 version of this product (not yet tested, but should test similarly): https://amzn.to/3BVU7zI
- Nature’s Path Envirokidz Organic Panda Puffs: https://amzn.to/4fo1crf
- Chosen Foods 100% Avocado Oil (not organic): https://amzn.to/3YDZSuv
- Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Fish Oil: https://amzn.to/48q1j2V
- Mary Ruth’s Organic Toddler Multivitamin Liquid Drops with Iron: https://amzn.to/3YPhcgx
- Stand by for more!
Products that tested positive for one or more toxicants, but at a level considered safe by all standards (with the limits of detection noted in the lab report for the specific product listed, note: There is some variation in the low threshold of detection for some of these lab reports):
- Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil — Organic (Postive for Traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/3BVQYQa
- Stand by!
Amazon links are affiliate links.
Published: November 7, 2024
Thursday
Hello! We are continuing to work on publishing a LOT of test results very quickly this month. We sent 67 products to the lab for testing in September of 2024 and 61 products to the lab for testing in October of 2024 and have not yet reported on all of those products as we are still waiting to receive final reports from the lab for many of them.
We will be updating this section of each article (with more information about the specific product and other similar products for context) as time permits, but we wanted to make sure the greater Lead Safe Mama community (and the general public) had access to this scientific data (about foods and supplements in their home) as quickly as possible.
Please scroll down to see the full laboratory test report for the product pictured above. Thank you for your patience.
As there are almost no reasonable safety thresholds proposed for toxicants (heavy metals) consumed by adults (in foods and supplements), our focus is (as always) on the health of children. The available proposed safety thresholds (and guidance) for foods consumed by adults are not set at levels protective of human health and are therefore not relevant to the work we do here at Lead Safe Mama, LLC.
This is the Lead Safe Mama Amazon affiliate link to purchase a test kit similar to what we use for our laboratory testing.
To see more articles related to the laboratory testing of foods and supplements Lead Safe Mama, LLC is conducting (including background on this initiative and safer food choices and guidelines), click the pink square below. To see the full, independent, third-party laboratory report for the product pictured above, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Amazon links are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking on a Lead Safe Mama, LLC Amazon affiliate link, Lead Safe Mama, LLC may receive a percentage of what you spend — at no extra cost to you.
Lab report for the product pictured above:
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I took this and my baby is 3 months old. I’m so sad because this one has folate- not folic acid so I thought it’ll be safer. Why is there no prenatal that isn’t tainted???
There’s insufficient regulation of these products.
oh crud, this is the brand I use. I so hope that you don’t find similar results for their other products. 🙁
What are the long term effects from this pre-natal? I took this particular one with both pregnancies and now I am nervous considering how high arsenic is.
I would start by reading the scientific studies linked near the top of the article – they might shed some light on the concern. Watching my film would also provide some useful information to help answer this question.
I took this with both of my children. My oldest is having some issues, and undergoing testing. Any other tests I should request? My child’s lead levels have always been “low.”
Have you watched my film yet? If not – start there. Here’s the link:
They claim to comply with Proposition 65, how is this so?
Prop 65 is based on serving size – not toxicity considerations based on total toxicant content regardless of serving size (which matters because there is no safe level of Lead exposure – no matter how small the serving size + the impact of heavy metals is cumulative over a lifetime).
T
Given the concentration of arsenic you have found of 1100 ppb and the daily serving size is 3 capsules, let’s assume each capsule weighs 700 mg (0.7 grams), totaling 2.1 grams for the daily serving:
Calculation
Concentration in ppb to µg per gram: 1100 ppb = 1.1 µg of arsenic per gram.
Daily Serving Weight: 3 capsules = 2.1 grams.
Daily Exposure in Micrograms:
Daily Exposure
= 1.1µg/g ×2.1g
=2.31µg
since the california Prop 65 limits are 0.1µg for arsenic, doesn’t this meant they have broken the law?
It’s best not to get into serving sizes when talking about ppb and ppm, but the levels are higher than is scientifically believed to be safe.
Right but the serving size does matter, esp for those of us who have mistakenly been taking this awful supplement. Any ideas how to calculate how it would translate to amount consumed per pill from the 1100ppb?
Thanks so much for doing this testing and bringing attention to it! It is infuriating they have allowed this to happen esp in prenatals. Definitely going to support your testing efforts going forward as we need more transparency with all of this. Can you test other prenatals from their brand?
In our work we are trying to change the narrative.
Serving size does not matter when it comes to heavy metal exposure in pregnancy.
It is NOT a “dose makes the poison” situation.
There is no safe level of exposure and we need to demand more from these companies and from our government.
Watch my film and read this article:
https://tamararubin.com/2021/06/but-is-this-dish-or-toy-or-lamp-or-vitamin-or-piece-of-jewelry-or-tibetan-brass-singing-bowl-actually-going-to-poison-me-and-how-would-that-happen-exactly/
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Here’s the link to the film:
Was the postnatal vitamin also tested? I’m currently taking it and wondering if I need to stop!
I got the prenatal but I see there’s a prenatal vitamin. Are both the same? Does the one that only says prenatal have some lead on them?
Have you found a more compliant prenatal vitamin? After reading your article I’m in the market for another prenatal.
I am literally freaking out about this. I take one from their brand (the once daily one though). I emailed the company demanding an explanation b/c I am extremely concerned and they need to address this ASAP. I am thinking of having my vitamins tested at a lab or have my blood tested. I’m so worried. Can you help me understand how it is possible that it is 1100ppb arsenic?? That level is beyond toxic and would for sure cause toxicity in a person or detrimental effects on a fetus, it’s completely out of range. This should be flagged immediately at this high of a level. I got this supplement in Califronia and it had no prop 65 warning – are they breaking the law there then b/c they need to be held accountable for that asap?!
How does this factor into daily arsenic consumption if you take one pill? I would really love some clarification on how to calculate that and make sense of how the ppb translates to daily exposure so I know about how much arsenic I have been consuming from taking one of these pills.
I would recommend asking your doctor for a full heavy metals panel if you have not had one recently. That’s the best place to start. A provoked urine panel might be appropriate if you are not pregnant, but may not be appropriate if you are pregnant. Ask your doctor. Read this article:
https://tamararubin.com/2020/05/i-heard-that-urine-and-hair-tests-for-heavy-metals-including-lead-were-not-real-or-useful-test-results-why-is-this/
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You can also file a complaint with the FDA on this link:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/index.cfm?action=consumer.reporting1
Thanks, I agree we need to demand a lot more from the companies and government, and saying dose doesn’t matter when advocating to the government is fine I get that, we should expect better from them completely, but truthfully it is not actually true or right for a pregnant woman to think that and I’m just saying it can provoke tonnes of anxiety in pregnant women because I just spent yesterday completely stressed over this until I calculated it out. Dose is literally one of the most important things in what makes something dangerous, I’m just saying this because it is just a fact and not an excuse for the government to not regulate this. It’s the same as saying there is no known safe level of alcohol in pregnancy, which sure is true, but if someone accidentally sipped one tsp of wine it is literally going to do nothing to you, and going to get extra ultrasounds or tests because you had a tsp of alcohol (which is even in ripe fruit) would be pointess, so yes dose does matter in terms of whether a women should be concerned about damage to her child.
There are heavy metals in rice that will be there no matter what to some extent. Millions of pregnant women in a variety of cultures eat rice in pregnancy even daily and it’s totally fine because it’s the dose that makes it ok. The reason I’m saying this is not to undermine the importance of this issue because I totally agree with you, but also when i first read the 1100ppb it really freaked me out and I spent my entire day on this worrying about that number and that anxiety probably does more damage to a pregnancy, and I don’t t want other people to feel that as well. Because I then figured out how to calculate the actual amount of arsenic that would have been consumed from one pill and the amount of arsenic and lead from one pill (I was taking the one a days and only did it for just a few short weeks (previously took a different prenatal)), would be way less than I would get from half a cup of rice.
Again, in terms of advocating to the government, dose is irrelevant I totally agree, because that’s not an excuse to them to have it in pills and foods in any amount, but I think it is relevant and helpful to understand the full info to prevent women from freaking out unecessarrily when they do inevitably consume something like this and think that they have harmed their child when they haven’t from such a small dose (that I agree should not be there in the first place!). Eating half a cup of rice is not going to give you arsenic poisoning, but eating arsenic and lead from a lot of different sources could, which is why I understand your argument that this should be held to a much higher standard by the companies/government and I fully support you continuing to advocate and push for this becaue it is such an important issue because it will only get worse if it continues unregulated.
So the reason that dose / servings is not as relevant as you would think is multi-factorial. One reason is that absorption varies depending on situation, for example the amount of food in the stomach. In general an emptier stomach equals higher heavy metal absorption. If all you took at the time you took the pill, was the pill, the absorption would be much larger of heavy metals, as opposed to a full heavy meal.
It’s not a dose-directly-equals-exposure 1:1 ratio. You could have a full meal and pass out most of the heavy metals potentially, or have just a few pills and potentially absorb the lot. That is one factor alone, there are lots of other factors at play in heavy metal absorption, and the reason we don’t believe in discussing servings.
Have you had a heavy metals blood test with a decent threshold of detection, and potentially a hair test too?
Thank you for your support, it is appreciated. Let’s make a change!
This is beyond alarming. I’ll be getting a heavy metals test done tomorrow as these results completely freaked me out! I was looking this morning at getting another bottle and my husband and I were looking at other brands and came across your website! Needless to say, what a journey our day had been. Have you tested any products from Dr.Berg? The guy has like 40 million YouTube subscribers and you know people are purchasing his products. We would LOVE to know that his prenatal is a safe option to take as these results have me feeling lost with major trust issues.
Thank you for all you do and continue to do! This has fueled our fire and we are determined to get this information out there and get focus and attention to this unacceptable brand for producing a product with such results.
Thank you for commenting. I am not familiar with Dr. Berg. We have not yet found a lead-free prenatal vitamin. You can read more of our articles with prenatal vitamin test results here (including some links to related research studies about the potential for harm – linked in some of the articles): https://tamararubin.com/category/prenatal-vitamin/
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Since you are new to the concern I would also encourage you to watch the documentary film that I directed and produced:
And read this article too:
https://tamararubin.com/2019/07/today-is-my-youngest-sons-11th-birthday-happy-birthday-charlie-parker-eliezer-rubin-the-story-of-how-lead-impacted-his-birth/
Thanks again for commenting!
Yes you should def test one of Dr. Berg’s supplements. It could bring a lot of exposure to this issue and your site. he advocates for similar things as you so it would be shocking if his vitamins had high heavy metals!!
I’m the same as you but pls don’t freak out. I went down a massive rabbit hole after seeing these results because I was so freaked out, but I ended up doing the calculations and based on 1 pill you would consume about 1.32ug of arsenic. Zero arsenic is best obv but to put into perspective so you don’t lose your mind half a cup of rice is 12.5ug of arsenic!!! That’s way more, so as long as you are not eating a lot of other high heavy metal foods like rice etc you will be okay don’t worry 🙂 but I agree this company needs to lower the levels and be held accountable asap! I emailed them about it and they responded with a pointless generic email that their vitamins are tested and below limits so obv they aren’t going to take iit seriously unless the gov forces them.