---

 

---

Published September 7, 2025
A Quick Note from Tamara Rubin:

The comparative chart of laboratory test results for various Pure Encapsulations brand supplement products we have tested and reported on to date is provided above (and published below as well, for good measure). For a close-up of the chart, just click on the graphic. To see the full original lab reports for each of the products listed (as well as the full product name), please look at the numbered list of linked articles below (scroll down). The numbers in the list below correlate with the numbers in the chart above.

Not Illegal: The levels of toxicants (heavy metals) found in each of these products are 100% legal. There are no United States Federal or State-mandated “total content limits” (or even “official guidance statements” around suggested total content limits) for toxicants in supplements for adults or children, as measured in parts per billion (ppb):

• Total content limits are distinct from “serving-size-based limits” or “daily limit guidance”.
  • As an example: the total content limit “guidance” from the FDA right now for baby food is that baby food should not test positive for more than 10 ppb Lead, however even that is a “guidance” and not a federally enforceable law.
  • In 2021 there was a proposal -—by the scientific and medical community — that we should lower this guidance limit to 5 ppb Lead (a limit that is achievable, and more protective of human health), but that recommendation was not acted on.
  • The total content limit for Lead in tap water (a guidance and not an enforceable law) is 15 ppb Lead.
  • The total content limit for Lead in bottled water is 5 ppb Lead.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that water consumed by children not test positive for levels of 1 ppb Lead or higher.
  • These numbers are very low (single or low double-digit) because Lead is well-documented to be incredibly toxic to humans.
  • These numbers are shared only to lend context to the amount of toxicants found in the supplements noted in the chart, as most people want numeric references to help them better understand how dangerous a product might be based on the Lead contamination levels.
• Most Important: all Federal agencies agree with the scientific and medical communities’ consensus that there is no safe level of Lead exposure for human beings (and that Lead exposure is especially concerning for children and pregnant women/women of childbearing age.)
• Given the latest science clearly demonstrates that there is no safe level of Lead exposure, serving-size based metrics (including Prop 65 limits and FDA Guidance that advise on daily total “limits” / maximums of ingested Lead) are outdated standards that are not protective of human health and should not be used to determine relative safety of a product.
  • Said another way: There cannot be a safe “allowable” amount of Lead for one to ingest each day if – in fact – there is no safe level of Lead exposure.

Achievable Standards: The Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative has identified 96 “lab tested safer choices” to date, 96 products that have had “non-detect” results for Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and Arsenic with independent, third-party , laboratory testing (with the limits of detection noted on our published lab reports for those products). These 96 products constitute a body of evidence that clearly demonstrates that making truly safer products (without appreciable levels of heavy metals) is possible (using total content limits as measured in ppb) — in spite of argumentation from many manufacturers that this level of purity in products is not achievable.

---

Key Points of Interest in the Chart’s Data

• Each of the five Pure Encapsulations products we sent in for laboratory testing (to date) tested positive for one or more heavy metals.
• Out of these five products, the Prenatal Nutrients supplement tested positive for both the highest level of Lead and the highest level of Arsenic.
  • This link has a chart showing the test results for other prenatal supplements we have tested to date.
• The Junior Nutrients product tested positive for the highest level of Cadmium (a known carcinogen).
  • This link has a chart showing test results for other children’s supplements we have tested to date.
• 80% of the Pure Encapsulations products we sent to the lab to date have tested positive for Lead.
  • 60% have tested positive for Arsenic.
  • 40% have tested positive for Cadmium.
• None of the Pure Encapsulations products we have tested to date were positive for Mercury (with the low threshold of detection for Mercury testing being 5 ppb).

---

---

Articles with Lab Reports

Here are the links to all of the articles published to date with lab reports for the Pure Encapsulations Supplements included in the chart above (numbers in this list correspond to the numbers at the top of the chart above, for each of the product images):

1. Pure Encapsulations — MethyAssist — Not Yet Published
2. Pure Encapsulations — Magnesium Glycinate
3. Pure Encapsulations — Vitamin D3, 125 mcg
4. Pure Encapsulations — Junior Nutrients
5. Pure Encapsulations — Prenatal Nutrients

---

Some additional reading

• See our full list of lab-tested safer choices here.
• To check out our landing page with links to the over 500 lab reports we have published since the beginning of the Lead Safe Mama, LLC Community-Collaborative Laboratory Testing Initiative (in March, 2024), click here.

---

For those new to the work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC

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 seven product recalls (FDA and CPSC).
• All test results reported on this website are science-based, accurate, and replicable.
• Please check out our press page for news coverage of our work here.

---

This is an ad-free article.

We have removed ads from most of our more widely-read articles, and new articles (like this one!) to make them easier for you to read.

---

---