Testing Now Solutions Xyli•White Refreshmint Toothpaste Gel (Fluoride-Free) for Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, & Mercury: 2025 Lab Report Here
A Quick Note from Tamara Rubin:
Uggghhh!
Disappointed about this one!
- If you have tuned into my social media pages (or previous articles about this subject), you may remember that prior to sending any toothpastes to the lab for testing, I had assumed this product might test much cleaner than some others based on the ingredient profile. When people asked me what toothpastes I was using, this is one of the ones I would share about (reluctantly, and usually with the caveat that I am not a toothpaste expert)!
- As a result of considerations based solely on the review of the ingredients (with the knowledge I had at the time), I have been personally using this toothpaste for the past year or two — assuming it was likely cleaner than many others.
- I also (to some degree) blindly trusted the brand (Now Solutions), a point on which I have recently “done a 180” based on testing we coordinated for other products from that company that tested poorly (products tested in the past year since Lead Safe Mama, LLC started laboratory testing foods and supplements in March of 2024).
- And while, yes… on one level my assessment was correct (this Now Solutions Xyli•White toothpaste does test positive for Lead at a level that is significantly lower than the toothpastes I knew were Lead-contaminated (the clay-based toothpastes and powders I had previously tested and found positive for Lead using XRF testing), at 421 ppb Lead (which is below the limit of detection of XRF technology) this toothpaste has way too much Lead to justify continued use of the product (in my personal opinion).
- See comparative chart below.
- #KnowBetterDoBetter:
- As I often share, I am on this journey with you all and always learning new things as we test more products.
- Admitting a past decision was not the best decision for my family is not easy — but moving on and making better (informed, science-based) decisions for your family for the future IS easy when more information is available, which is why we are trying to gather as much science as we can on this subject (toothpaste toxicity) to help everyone make better choices for their families in the future.
- Here’s our list of campaigns for toothpaste testing (in case your toothpaste is on there and you want to contribute $10 or $20 to help us get it sent off to the lab for testing (in our search for a clean/ toxicant-free toothpaste product)!
As soon as we got the test results back for this (just a few days ago) we threw our tube out (but frankly, I hadn’t been using it for quite some time as I have been suspect of ALL toothpastes since we started getting these toothpaste and tooth powder reports back from the lab)!
Some additional context, also shared in our earlier article about Sensodyne:
- Non-Fluoride toothpastes are governed by cosmetics rules and the federal Lead limit is (legally) 10,000 ppb (10 ppm).
- Fluoride toothpastes are not considered cosmetics, so the legal limit for Lead in a Fluoride toothpaste is 20,000 ppb Lead (20 ppm).
- The new Washington State Lead limit (restricting the amount of Lead allowed in personal care products, including toothpastes) is 1,000 ppb (1 ppm).
- Regardless of the regulatory limits and standards (which are clearly not protective of human health when it comes to the concern for the presence of toxicants in toothpaste), at 421 ppb Lead this toothpaste has too much Lead when you take into account the fact that all federal agencies agree there is no safe level of Lead exposure for humans. (And that’s not even taking into account the fact that it also tested positive for MERCURY!)
- I will always and forever land in the “no safe level of Lead exposure” camp for any product, but especially for products that one might put in their mouth every day, multiple times a day!
- To find ALL our lab reports for every food, supplement, and “cosmetic” item we have tested, click here.
The full lab report for this product is at the bottom of this article.
As far as safer choices for foods and supplements go, we have a few lists on our food and supplement testing landing page (linked here) you may find helpful in making safer choices for your family. We even have one dedicated to safer snack choices here. You may also find this link helpful, as it takes you to our most recently updated safer choices list of 49 lab-tested safer foods and supplements!
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 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.
- 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” or a “Recommended Daily Amount.” If a product reaches the “Action Level” for heavy metals, it has too much of the heavy metals in question.
- Many food and supplement manufacturers misinterpret existing guidance on heavy metals to mean the stated levels are “allowable levels” or “acceptable levels” (in spite of the scientific consensus that there is no safe level of Lead exposure, for example) and consider it reasonable for products to test positive for heavy metals, but at levels that fall below any regulated maximums.
- This is a (perhaps intentional?) misunderstanding/ misinterpretation the food and supplement industry makes — a misunderstanding manufacturers use to justify the presence of heavy metals in products.
- As an example: A common refrain in this realm is when a supplement or food manufacturer proudly proclaims its product meets Prop 65 guidelines as it tests positive for Lead, but under the limit noted by Prop 65. This position entirely disregards the well-known scientific fact there is no safe level of Lead exposure for humans.
- 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 or supplement 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) to have metals at a level that is 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 a better (more health-protective) metric than Prop 65 limits as they are more comprehensive and UNRELATED TO SERVING SIZE .
- Serving sizes are set by manufacturers and in many cases do not reflect real world consumption habits and patterns (more on that below).
- Serving size thresholds for toxicity also do not take into account realistic levels of toxicant ingestion from multiple foods and supplements over the course of a given day — or week or month (especially given the fact that many products are typically consumed in quantities far greater than a manufacturer-set serving size).
- Serving sizes are often set to quantities that are intentionally lower than anticipated actual daily consumption of a product (see bag of potato chips example below) — and companies specifically set these lower quantities only in order to be in compliance with Prop 65 (or other serving size-related) standards.
- On the other hand, Action Levels are relevant for any amount of a food or supplement product that may be consumed (any quantity of the food or supplement in question).
- Action Levels are a better (more health-protective) measure as they take into account the total heavy metals content of all products consumed throughout the day (were there to be a federally-mandated, health protective Action Level for all ingested items).
- If the Action Level for all items is protective of children’s health, one would never need to pay any attention to how much of a product a child consumes.
- Action Levels are a more reasonable metric in light of the fact that all federal agencies agree there is no safe level of Lead exposure (especially for children, but truly for all humans).
- If we are evaluating Lead exposure based on serving size, we are contradicting science by asserting that a certain amount of Lead is ok (within arbitrary limits that, again, are not protective of human health).
- PPB (parts per billion/ ppb) measurements are a percentage (albeit a very small percentage) and apply to any quantity of any food or supplement product (tested or ingested).
- If all ingested foods and supplements were evaluated by ppb content for heavy metals across the board (using the same scale for all types of ingested products), confusion over safety limits would be eliminated.
- By retaining a structure of serving size-based exposure, our regulatory agencies are doing a disservice to consumers, and again, (especially) as all federal agencies (and scientists and medical experts) agree there is no safe level of Lead exposure.
- 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 or supplement 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 or supplement 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 and supplement types (vitamins, 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, the products listed below (the first section of the list below) tested “non-detect” for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic — several even tested non-detect for Lead with the low threshold of detection being “less than 1.5 ppb.”
Below is an EXPANDING list of products (foods and supplements) that have tested “non-detect” for Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, and Arsenic with independent, third-party, crowd-funded laboratory testing coordinated by Lead Safe Mama, LLC (an Oregon-based small business with a unique community-collaborative business model and a focus on consumer goods safety and childhood Lead poisoning prevention).
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The limits of detection for each of the metals tested are noted in the lab report for the specific product listed. To see the full lab report for any of these products, type the brand name into the search bar at the top of any page on Lead Safe Mama dot com (and scroll down to the bottom of the related article).
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Flavors tested are noted, and other flavors of the same product (or other products from the same brand) have either not been tested or have been tested but did not yield similar results. Test results only apply to the specific products linked below.
LIST UPDATED January 26, 2025 — 49 Products!:
- Baby Food — 1 — Little Spoon Kale, Carrot + Pear BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 2 —Little Spoon Butternut Squash + Blueberry BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 3 — Little Spoon Sweet Potato BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 4 — Little Spoon Sweet Potato + Carrot BabyBlends
- Baby Food — 5 — Little Spoon Banana + Pitaya BabyBlends
- Beverage — 1 — Honest Kids Organic Appley Ever After Apple Juice Drink: https://amzn.to/4fjGhov
- Beverage — 2 — Olipop Grape Tonic: https://amzn.to/4cjFYZu
- Breakfast Item — 1 — Nature’s Path Envirokidz Organic Panda Puffs: https://amzn.to/4fo1crf
- Breakfast Item — 2 — One Degree Organic, Gluten-Free, Sprouted Rolled Oats (Canada): https://amzn.to/3WIQ1BN
- Candy — Lindt White Chocolate Bar (Made in USA, New Hampshire): https://amzn.to/3OXkyIm
- Candy — Cavendish & Harvey Wild Berry Drops, not organic (Germany): https://amzn.to/3Z1Jxjr
- Coffee & Tea — 1 — Chameleon Handcrafted Organic Cold Brew Concentrate: https://amzn.to/3OcrH77
- Coffee & Tea — 2 — Tao of Tea Organic Genmaicha (Tamara’s favorite, from Japan, sold by a Portland, Oregon-based company!): https://amzn.to/3Dp8Fsd
- Coffee & Tea — 3 — Califia Farms Almond Latte Cold Brew (XX Espresso): https://amzn.to/4gTTGoJ
- Coffee & Tea — 4 — Death Wish Organic Espresso Roast Ground Coffee (Multi-country origin, non-USA): https://amzn.to/3yo1eiL
- Coffee Creamer — Plant-Based — 1 — Laird Superfood Coconut Creamer: https://amzn.to/4fItA7A
- Coffee Creamer — Dairy — 2 — Organic Valley Grassmilk Half and Half: https://amzn.to/4fHJIWT
- Dairy, Cheese – Babybel Mini Original Snack Cheese: https://amzn.to/3ZY5noO
- Fruit Snack — 1 — GoGo Squeez Organic Apple Sauce Pouch: https://amzn.to/3XhWYLe
- Fruit Snack — 2 — Costco’s Kirkland Organic Apple Sauce Pouch: https://amzn.to/4gOYpZ9
- Fruit Snack — 3 — Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars in Strawberry Banana Flavor: https://amzn.to/3WQEekA
- Fruit Snack — 4 — Once Upon A Farm Dairy Free Fruit Smoothie Pouch in Strawberry Banana Swirl Flavor: https://amzn.to/3CPMbAw
- Fruit Snack — 5 — Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars in Raspberry Lemonade Flavor: https://amzn.to/3XcFsIp
- Infant Formula — 1 — Bobbie Organic Gentle Infant Formula Milk-Based Powder with Iron (pink and white can): https://amzn.to/3YYb849
- Infant Formula — 2 — Bobbie Organic Infant Formula Milk-Based Powder with Iron (green and white can): https://amzn.to/3VOr4Vy
- Infant Formula — 3 — Bobbie Grass-Fed Milk-Based Powder with Iron (green can): https://amzn.to/3ZlAaeJ
- Infant Formula — 4 — ByHeart Infant Formula (USA-made, not organic): https://amzn.to/48DJjTb
- Infant Formula — 5 — HiPP Bio Combiotik Infant Formula Powder, Stage 1 (imported)
- Infant Formula — 6 — HiPP HA Stage PRE (0+ Months) Combiotic Formula (imported)
- Infant Formula — 7 — Holle Bio Goat Stage 2 Infant Formula (for 6-10 months, organic, European — Swiss/ German/ Austrian) is not available on Amazon, but the Stage 3 version of this product is (not yet tested, but will likely test similarly): https://amzn.to/3BVU7zI
- Infant Formula — 8 — Kendamil Goat Infant Formula (not organic): This product may be available at Target (it is not available on Amazon)
- Infant Formula — 9 — Kendamil Organic Follow-On Milk (European/ British Toddler Formula, for 6-12 months, Cow Milk): Not available on Amazon (report link)
- Infant Formula — 10 — Kendamil Whole Milk Infant Formula (from Europe, pink can, not organic), available at Target
- Infant Formula — 11 — Kendamil Organic Infant Formula (Cow Milk): Not available on Amazon but may be available at Target
- Ingredient — 1 (salt) — Jacobsen’s Sea Salt (Oregon, USA): https://amzn.to/4dcbk5L
- Ingredient — 2 (baking flour) — Jovial Organic Einkorn Flour (Italy): https://amzn.to/3LIqxix
- Ingredient — 3 (seeds) — Costco Kirkland Organic Hemp Seeds: https://amzn.to/4e05RP9
- Ingredient — 4 (seeds) — Navitas Organic, Gluten-Free Chia Seeds (Mexico): https://amzn.to/3YvE7xC
- Ingredient — 5 (beans) — Jovial Organic Chickpeas, Product of Italy: https://amzn.to/4iRON1l
- Oil — 1 — Chosen Foods 100% Avocado Oil (not organic): https://amzn.to/3YDZSuv
- Oil — 2 — Dr. Adorable’s Organic Perilla Seed Oil (Korea): https://amzn.to/3NDt7Yc
- Oil — 3 — Dr. Bronner’s Regenerative Organic Coconut Oil: https://amzn.to/40xwBmv
- Plant-Based Milk — 1 — Kiki Milk Organic Plant-Based Milk (original flavor): https://amzn.to/3AA6Qrt
- Plant-Based Milk — 2 — West Soy Unflavored Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk: https://amzn.to/4dwev8l
- Supplement — 1 — Baby Ddrops – Organic Vitamin D3 Supplement for Babies: https://amzn.to/49C3ktH
- Supplement — 2 — Doctor’s Best Vitamin C with Q-C: https://amzn.to/4hlVvea
- Supplement — 3 — Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Fish Oil: https://amzn.to/48q1j2V
- Supplement — 4 — Mary Ruth’s Organic Toddler Multivitamin Liquid Drops with Iron: https://amzn.to/3YPhcgx
- Supplement — 5 — Pendulum Metabolic Daily Dietary Supplement: https://amzn.to/4gY5wOm
Here’s a link to the lab reports for all of the foods and supplements we have tested, including those listed above:
https://tamararubin.com/2024/05/food-articles/
Stand by for more!
BONUS FIVE: Below are FIVE additional products that each tested positive for trace (very low levels of) Arsenic — at levels considered safe by all standards (with the limits of detection noted in the lab report for the specific product listed):
- Infant Formula — Kendamil Goat Toddler Milk, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): May be available at Target or through other online retailers of European infant formulas
- Fruit Snack — That’s It Apple Cherry Bars, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/4fHkSWV
- Oil — Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado oil, organic (postive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/3BVQYQa
- Supplement — Now Sunflower Lecithin, not organic (positive for traces of Arsenic): https://amzn.to/3AFdHzO
- Supplement — WishGarden Immune Boost Seasonal Rescue for Pregnancy: https://amzn.to/3Cd940N
Amazon links are affiliate links.
Published: February 11, 2025
Tuesday
Please scroll down to see the full laboratory test report for the product pictured above. Thank you.
More Key Points to Consider:
- There are almost no reasonable safety limits proposed for toxicant contamination (heavy metal contamination specifically) of foods and supplements consumed by adults (or by the general population) in the United States.
- Any available proposed safety thresholds (and guidance) for foods and supplements consumed by adults are not currently set at levels that are protective of human health, given practical/ actual consumption patterns of foods (vs. manufacturer-defined serving sizes).
- The above point is especially important given children eat all foods, not just foods marketed for consumption by children (for example: Find me a pre-teen that won’t go through an entire 5-ounce/ 5-serving bag of potato chips in one sitting)!
- Our focus is (as always) on the health of children.
- By applying the standards proposed by the Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 to all foods and supplements, we are working more in line with standards that protect human health (for all!) given all scientific and medical experts agree there is no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings.
- Said another way: You would never be eating a snack chip out of a bag and say to your 5-year-old child “this product is only marketed for consumption by adults, so you cannot eat it.” That would be ridiculous. Kids eat what we eat, so everything that goes into our bodies in an attempt to nourish us and support our health and well being should be appropriate for any age consumer (not just a demographic designated by the manufacturer based on irrelevant age group-related toxicity standards for a specific product or ingredient).
- Remember: There is no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings. Period.
- This is a non-negotiable point that everyone in the scientific and medical community — everyone who researches Lead poisoning — agrees with.
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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Yes, very disappointing. Do you think the heavy metals are coming from the calcium carbonate? If it’s mined, I’m thinking maybe there are trace heavy metals just like in clay?
May I ask what you and your family will be using to brush their teeth for now, at least until your testing (hopefully) comes up with a safe one to use?
#Sigh….
I am not comfortable sharing what we are using now – because if I do, people may misunderstand the reasoning for the choice.
That said I am currently using a European brand until we find something that tests clean (and I do not know if this European brand will test clean or not, it’s just superstition at this point!)
For my adult kids I purchased them tubes of the lowest Lead product we have found so far. I also purchased some Pure Calcium Carbonate AND some Pure Xylitol and sent both of those into the lab for testing – so we can collect some more data points to help us make these choices!
The Xylitol we chose to send in is – in fact – the NOW Brand xylitol – so that should give us some very specific insight into potential toxicant concerns for this particular toothpaste.
Tamara
Tamara, have you tested or plan to test MCHA (microcrystalline hydroxyapatite)?
Orawellness sells some (I also don’t see their tooth powder on your list of items to test and it might be a good one for a fundme—I believe they use kaolin clay, which will still probably test high).
Gah, difficult with the toothpaste!
On a non-lead related note, I was so disappointed when I found out my old floss had “forever chemicals.” I have since switched to another more “natural” floss, but who knows if that one has heavy metals and is “pure?” (And I wonder if the “forever chemical” floss also has heavy metals?) Hard when it comes down to these choices. We are all just trying to do the best we can. I wonder what you think about the idea of testing floss…