Should I Be Worried About Lead in Toothpaste?

Should I be concerned about this headline: “Toothpaste widely contaminated with lead and other metals, U.S. research finds”?

—Sam

This may not be a particularly new headline by the time you read this, but you’re going to keep seeing headlines like this about lead, over and over again.

I’ve done a very deep dive on this. There are a couple of factors at play here. First, it is important to note that lead naturally occurs in the environment and our bodies can process some level of it. Where we run into problems is with high levels of lead. So while it’s absolutely true that we do not need lead, and zero would be the best amount, there is no reason to panic about low levels of lead. (The levels we are exposed to now are vastly smaller than 20 or 30 years ago.)

The existence of lead in the environment means that many things we consume — food, toothpaste — are likely to have trace amounts of lead in it. Within the past few years, California implemented a rule that products must be labeled if they have an amount of lead above what the state deems the “maximum allowable dose level” (MADL). It sets this MADL at one one-thousandth of the dose that has been shown to have any harm.

What this means is that this dose is very, very low, and very far from a harmful level, but the name is scary. If we say, “This product has 50% of the maximum allowable dose level,” that makes it seem like it’s close to dangerous, but in fact, this is less than one two-thousandth of the level at which studies have shown risk.

This California rule has opened the door to online influencers and others who have taken advantage of it to create a panic. It’s easy to test products for lead, most of them have trace amounts, and you can then have a scary headline that references the California rule. This is what has happened with toothpaste.

A common claim is that this is all to the good because it pushes companies toward zero, which is the best level. I see that point, but it’s worth taking into account the downside of scaring people and the risks of crying wolf. There are some cases in which there are very high levels of lead in products (like the issue with applesauce pouches last year), and we do want to be careful to make sure people understand the difference between an actual problem and one that is manufactured for clicks.