FDA survey supports low lead levels in supplements

A survey of 324 multivitamin-mineral products by scientists from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that exposure to lead was below the provisional total tolerable intake levels (PTTI).

"These safe/tolerable levels are referred to as the provisional total tolerable intake levels (PTTI) and are 6, 15, 25, and 75 micrograms of lead per day for young children, older children, pregnant or lactating women, and adult women, respectively," wrote the authors in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

"Estimates of lead exposures were below the PTTI levels for the four population groups," they added.

"Most samples were extremely low in lead, with a median value of 0.160 mg/kg and only four samples exceeding 1 mg/kg," wrote the scientists.

The full list of supplements and lead mass fraction and exposure results is available free of charge at the American Chemical Society's website.