We’ve conducted many tests and only occasionally find lead in trace amounts.
We’re grateful you care so much about the ingredients you put into your body, and we’re right there with you. We’re extraordinarily careful about lead exposure in our lives too.
Some of our customers have come to us with this question after reading a report posted by a blogger online that showed Real Salt has 169 ppb of lead. Since they've heard that safe water is less than 15 ppb, they're a little concerned. But there are a lot of facts about lead and lead testing that can get overlooked or muddled in online reports and research. So, we’d like to explain a few important things about lead and our lead testing process that should put your mind at ease.
When it comes to lead testing, you’ll see one of two different measurements used: parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb). We test our products using ppm, which is the standard measurement used when testing for heavy metals in salt. Only rarely do any detectable levels of lead show up in our tests using this measurement. And we’re confident that even when these trace amounts do show up, they are well within safety limits for salt. Here’s why….
At first, 169 ppb in salt may sound high when compared to 15 ppb in water (the action level for lead in water). But there’s an important factor you have to put in context here: the amount of water vs. the amount of salt you consume per day.
A 150 lb person likely drinks about 75 oz of water per day. At 15 ppb, they’d be getting about 33 micrograms (µg) of lead per day, and at only 5 ppb, they’d still be getting 11 micrograms (µg). If salt has 169 ppb, someone who consumes 6 grams of salt per day (which probably is more than most people consume), would only be getting about 1 microgram (µg) of lead.
At the end of the day, lead is the 35th most abundant element on earth and is naturally found in trace amounts everywhere, including our soil, water, salt, veggies, fruits, and other foods. It’s ultimately unavoidable. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but we don’t feel like trace amounts that appear naturally in foods are really where the big issue lies when it comes to lead.
We hope this helps you feel confident about the safety of Real Salt. We take our customers’ well-being very seriously, and we would never sell a product that wasn’t properly tested and proven to be safe. We’re standing by if you have any other questions or concerns on this issue. Just reach out and let us know! And here's a copy of our latest mineral analysis in case you want to take a closer peek at it.