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Heavy metals and other contaminants can enter natural health products through raw materials, botanical ingredients, minerals, agricultural inputs, manufacturing processes or environmental sources.
Testing can help manufacturers, importers, ingredient suppliers and quality teams evaluate whether a submitted ingredient or finished product meets established contaminant specifications.
PBR Laboratories supports heavy metals testing for applicable natural health product, supplement and ingredient matrices, including analysis for:
PBR's current service catalogue identifies these four heavy metals for plant, oil and edible matrices using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, with the analysis identified as a subcontracted service.
PBR supports clients from Edmonton throughout Alberta, Western Canada and Canada.
The important question is not simply whether a metal is detected. It is:
What concentration was measured, what specification applies, and what quality decision must be made from the result?
Heavy metals testing measures selected elemental contaminants in a submitted natural health product, supplement or ingredient.
For applicable matrices, PBR can coordinate testing for:
Testing may support decisions involving:
The appropriate testing plan depends on the product, ingredients, specification and decision being made.
Natural health products may contain ingredients derived from:
Contaminants can be introduced or concentrated through raw materials, growing conditions, soil, processing, storage or other parts of the supply chain.
The risk is not identical for every product.
For example, a botanical powder and a highly refined ingredient may have very different contaminant profiles.
That is why testing should be based on:
ingredient risk → supplier information → product specification → analytical result → quality decision
rather than applying the same contaminant panel to every product.
Lead analysis measures the concentration of lead in the submitted sample.
Testing may support:
The laboratory result reports the measured concentration in the submitted sample.
Whether the result meets requirements depends on:
A detected concentration should therefore be interpreted against the correct acceptance criterion rather than treated simply as “present” or “absent.”
Arsenic may be relevant where raw materials or ingredients have environmental or geological exposure pathways.
Testing may support:
The measured concentration should be evaluated in the context of the applicable product specification and analytical requirement.
If a particular form or species of arsenic is required rather than total arsenic, that analytical need should be established before testing.
Speak with PBR about the required analyte before submitting samples.
Cadmium can be relevant in some plant-derived, agricultural or mineral-containing raw materials.
Testing can help quality teams compare a submitted ingredient or finished product against established contaminant specifications.
Testing may be considered during:
The need for testing should be based on the ingredients and risk profile of the product.
Mercury testing measures mercury in the submitted sample according to the selected analytical approach.
Testing may support contaminant assessment for applicable natural health products and ingredients.
As with other metals, the result should be considered against the relevant specification and product context.
PBR's documented service capability includes mercury together with lead, arsenic and cadmium in the heavy metals testing group.
PBR's current service catalogue identifies inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury testing in applicable plant, oil and edible matrices. The service is identified in the catalogue as subcontracted.
Method selection affects:
Before testing, the laboratory should understand:
Ask PBR about the matrix and analytical requirements before submitting samples.
PBR's verified service catalogue identifies heavy metals testing for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury as a subcontracted analytical service for the listed matrices.
PBR helps clients coordinate appropriate heavy metals testing while keeping the analytical question, sample matrix, specification and quality decision clear.
That maintains technical accuracy while still giving clients a single point of contact.
Raw-material testing can help identify contaminant concerns before an ingredient enters manufacturing.
Testing may support:
The decision should be based on the ingredient and its risk profile.
Botanical, agricultural, mineral or naturally sourced ingredients may warrant different contaminant considerations than highly refined materials.
The better question is:
What ingredients are in the product, what contamination risks are relevant, and what specification does the incoming material need to meet?
Related Service: Ingredient & Raw Material Testing →
Finished-product testing evaluates the manufactured product after ingredients have been combined and processing is complete.
Testing may support:
Not necessarily.
The appropriate testing stage depends on:
Raw-material and finished-product testing therefore answer related but different quality questions.
Related Service: Finished Product Testing →
A laboratory result reports the concentration measured in the submitted sample.
The result alone does not establish whether the product passes or fails.
The quality team must compare it against:
Sample submitted
↓
Lead, arsenic, cadmium and/or mercury measured
↓
Result compared with specification
↓
Quality review
↓
Accept, investigate or take corrective action
This is the decision-first approach required in PBR's service framework.
An elevated or out-of-specification result should be investigated in context.
The review may need to consider:
Not automatically.
Repeating an analysis without understanding why the original result was unexpected may not identify the underlying source of the issue.
Potential follow-up could involve:
The appropriate investigation should be based on the product and quality system.
Heavy metals results can be particularly useful when supplier risk varies.
A quality team may use analytical testing to support questions such as:
Testing should complement supplier qualification rather than replace it.
A laboratory result represents the submitted sample.
This is particularly important for powders, botanicals and heterogeneous materials where contaminants may not be evenly distributed.
Common sampling problems include:
PBR's decision framework specifically warns that non-representative sampling and inappropriate compositing can reduce confidence in lot-level decisions.
A composite can provide an average representation across multiple increments, but it can also dilute localized contamination.
The sampling approach should therefore reflect the decision the client needs to make.
Ask PBR about sample requirements before submitting a large lot or composite sample.
What is the difference between heavy metals testing and mineral analysis?
Heavy metals testing generally targets elements being evaluated as potential contaminants, such as:
Nutritional mineral analysis measures minerals that may form part of a product's nutritional or compositional profile, such as:
They answer different analytical questions.
PBR's service catalogue documents selected nutritional mineral analysis separately from its heavy metals testing group.
Related Service: Nutritional & Composition Analysis →
Botanical materials can be influenced by growing conditions, soil, water, harvesting and processing.
Heavy metals testing may therefore form part of supplier or product contaminant assessment.
Powders may contain multiple raw materials and can require contaminant testing based on ingredient sourcing and specification.
Multi-ingredient protein and sports nutrition products may require contaminant assessment depending on ingredient sources and supplier controls.
Products containing mineral-derived ingredients may require contaminant considerations separate from nutritional mineral analysis.
Heavy metals testing needs depend on the ingredients used in the finished formulation and the applicable specification.
Liquid formulations may require selected contaminant testing depending on their ingredients and specifications.
PBR Laboratories supports heavy metals testing for applicable natural health product, supplement and ingredient matrices from Edmonton.
PBR provides Alberta manufacturers, suppliers and quality teams with a regional point of contact for discussing matrices, target metals, specifications and sample requirements.
Natural health product and supplement companies throughout Western Canada can work with PBR to coordinate applicable heavy metals analysis based on the product and quality decision.
PBR supports Canadian companies requiring lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury testing for applicable natural health product, supplement and ingredient matrices.
PBR's differentiator remains the same:
help clients connect analytical results with the specification and the quality decision that follows—not simply provide a number.
PBR's documented capabilities include testing for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury in applicable plant, oil and edible matrices. The current service catalogue identifies the analysis as a subcontracted service using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Yes, for applicable matrices through the documented heavy metals testing service. Clients should confirm matrix suitability, specifications and sample requirements before submission.
PBR's documented heavy metals service includes arsenic. If a specific form of arsenic rather than total arsenic is required, the analytical requirement should be clarified before testing.
PBR's documented heavy metals panel includes both cadmium and mercury for applicable matrices.
PBR's current service catalogue identifies heavy metals testing for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury as subcontracted for the listed matrices. PBR can coordinate the testing and help clients clarify the product matrix and analytical requirements.
That depends on the ingredient risks, supplier controls, product specification and quality program. Ingredient testing can support incoming-material decisions, while finished-product testing evaluates the final manufactured product.
No. Heavy metals testing generally evaluates potential contaminants such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. Nutritional mineral analysis may measure components such as calcium, iron, sodium, potassium and magnesium for compositional purposes.
Review the result against the applicable specification and investigate sample representativeness, ingredient source, supplier information, lot records, formulation and related analytical results before determining the appropriate follow-up testing.
Yes. PBR supports clients throughout Alberta, Western Canada and Canada.
Tell PBR:
PBR can confirm matrix suitability and coordinate the appropriate available testing.