Yet recent independent testing has uncovered frighteningly high trace levels of lead in many popular toothpaste brands sold throughout the country. Our findings lead was found in nearly all toothpastes we tested—90%—and some brands contained more lead than the legal federal and state limits. Though hardly unexpected, this revelation has been met with well-earned, widespread outrage from public health advocates and consumers.
Currently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a de facto lead limit of 10,000 parts per billion (ppb) in children’s toothpaste. For adults, the maximum allowable adult concentration is 20,000 ppb. To illustrate, some brands have already outpaced these thresholds. This is the case even for popular household names like Crest, Sensodyne, Tom’s of Maine, Dr Bronner’s, and Davids. Protect your family from lead in toothpaste. Washington state recently passed Toasty’s Law to restrict lead in toothpaste to 1,000 ppb. This move signals the growing concern over the long-lasting and destructive impacts of lead.
Public health advocates have long warned that the current lead limits in the U.S. for both water and paint are not adequate to protect public health. The federal government has long recognized that there is no safe level of lead exposure. This begs the question of what else might be dangerous in products we use every day to maintain our oral hygiene routines. The federal bipartisan Baby Food Safety Act of 2024 would require more restrictive lead levels in children’s food. It goes after personal care products, like toothpaste, requiring levels to be cut down to five parts per billion (ppb).
Lead contamination in toothpaste is usually attributed to specific ingredients. Hydroxyapatite, which comes from cow bone, has been promoted for use in some toothpastes because it’s thought to help teeth reabsorb calcium. Further, both calcium carbonate and bentonite clay—for ingredients that often show up in natural toothpaste formulations—can serve as a source of lead as well.
Tamara Rubin of Lead Safe Mama is a fierce champion for increasing awareness about lead in consumer products and has been for decades. She first discovered that lead was present in toothpaste around 12 years ago while assisting families whose children exhibited elevated blood lead levels. Her tireless activism serves as a powerful reminder to question even the most pedestrian products that could be exposing us to damaging health effects.
“It’s unconscionable – especially in 2025,”
- Tamara Rubin, Lead Safe Mama’s founder.
Lead poisoning is a significant public health threat, particularly to our nation’s children. For this reason, they are extremely vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of such a dangerous metal. As consumers learn more about the hazards presented by lead, their faith in personal care products will continue to erode. This involves everyday products, such as toothpaste. The FDA has not responded to questions about these alarming new findings around lead contamination in toothpaste.
Procter & Gamble, which owns Crest, failed to comment immediately on the issue. Public accountability and scrutiny are growing, and demands for change are reverberating louder than ever. It’s now time to see how companies will heed these new findings and what they will do to protect consumers from harm.
With this issue rising in priority, consumers should continue to examine their personal care products and push for safer alternatives. The conversation surrounding lead contamination is crucial for protecting public health and ensuring that future generations are not exposed to toxic substances through everyday items.
