The Dangers of Heavy Metals in Baby Products

You may have heard about the many popular baby food companies that have been found to be selling products with heavy metal residues in them -- yikes! That sounds bad, but you may be left wondering: what do heavy metals actually do to my baby’s body? Where do they come from? What can I do about it? Let’s break it down.

Where do heavy metals come from?

Heavy metals can be found in the soil in which our baby’s products are grown, and can come from fertilizers, pesticides, and landfill ground pollution. Products can also be contaminated from the manufacturing; through the air and from old pipes made of certain metals.

Dangers of heavy metals

Heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, aluminum, cadmium, and lead pose health risks to everyone, but especially to babies since their bodies are smaller and don’t have much capability to fight off toxins yet. Heavy metals have been shown to be potentially neurotoxic (harmful to the brain) and can even cause irreversible damage to the developing brain. They can also cause other health issues like stunted growth, digestive and immune system issues, kidney and liver problems, as well as problems that are specific to each type of heavy metal.

Testing for heavy metals

The problem with these companies is not just that they are selling products with heavy metals, but that they didn’t test (or didn’t test frequently enough) for them! Because we are moms who are aware of the neurotoxicity of heavy metals, it is a priority to us that any product we sell is completely free of toxic residue. To ensure this, our products go through rigorous testing by a third party lab, including a Heavy Metals Test! We test for Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr), Antimony (Sb), Barium (Ba) and Selenium (Se) during product development AND every single small production batch.

What can I do?

You can make replacement products yourself using ingredients you know you can trust, or you can look into the companies you are buying from to ensure they test for heavy metals. Also, if you want to know if your baby has heavy metal residue in their body currently, you can purchase an at-home testing kit online, and there are resources you can utilize to detox your baby from heavy metals.

Regardless of what you choose, don’t feel bad if you’ve purchased products not knowing whether or not they contain heavy metals! Move forward with the knowledge and awareness you’ve gained to make the best decisions for your family. We are rooting for you, mama!