Regulation pages describe specific thresholds, action levels, and guidance from specific jurisdictions. Principal jurisdictions covered include the United States (Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, California Proposition 65, and state attorneys general), the European Union (European Food Safety Authority and the Commission Regulations on contaminants), the World Health Organization and Codex Alimentarius, and others where material appears in the literature. Every page preserves the exact value from the agency source; unit conversions are shown rather than concealed.
Cross-cut views
Two auto-generated cross-cuts compose every regulation tracked below into a single comparison surface — start here if you are scanning across jurisdictions or across time rather than reading a specific regulation top-to-bottom.
Regulations by jurisdiction — country/region × metal matrix. Brand-legal and regulatory-affairs readers comparing how different jurisdictions regulate the same metal land here.
Regulatory timeline — chronological view of every dated regulation, grouped by decade. Shows the trajectory of the regulatory floor: when limits tightened, which superseded what, where international and US framings diverge.
For the Category 1 lead comparison layer, start with Lead benchmark context. It normalizes FDA, EU, Prop 65, and occurrence-context lead values into ppb while preserving each value’s legal or evidentiary role.
Australia/New Zealand Contaminants Maximum Levels
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Schedule 19 maximum levels for contaminants and natural toxicants, including selected metal limits in food.
EU Contaminants Maximum Levels
EU contaminants maximum-level framework - canonical HMI hub for Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, the EU maximum-level framework for contaminants in food.
EU inorganic-arsenic limits for rice (2015) - historical Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1006 amendment adding inorganic-arsenic maximum levels for rice and rice products, including rice for infant and young-child foods.
EU cadmium maximum levels - cadmium matrix maximum levels for infant foods, cereals, rice, vegetables, oilseeds, cocoa/chocolate, fishery products, offal, and supplements.
California hexavalent-chromium drinking-water limit - California State Water Resources Control Board hexavalent-chromium drinking-water Maximum Contaminant Level (10 µg/L), effective October 1, 2024. A drinking-water standard, not a food limit.
Mexico NOM-242-SSA1-2009 (fishery products) - current Mexican sanitary standard for fresh, refrigerated, frozen, and processed fishery products, including fishery-product heavy-metal and metalloid limits.
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
Auto-managed by tools/autonomy/link-orphans.mjs. These pages exist in this directory and are reachable from here, but have not yet been placed in a curated section above. A future structural pass relocates them into the appropriate section.
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
Country/region × metal cross-cut of every regulatory threshold the Heavy Metal Index tracks. Auto-regenerated from wiki/regulations/*.md frontmatter on every build.
Chronological view of every dated regulation in the Heavy Metal Index, grouped by decade. Auto-regenerated from wiki/regulations/*.md frontmatter on every build.
In June 2023 the US Food and Drug Administration finalized an action level of 10 parts per billion inorganic arsenic in single-strength apple juice, including apple cider, intended for human consumption (FDA CFSAN 2023).
Scope The loaded rows cover imported goods listed in the compiled Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations: coated toys, cosmetic products, money boxes, coated pencils or paint brushes, erasers resembling food in scent or appearance, candles with lead-containing wicks, and candle wicks.
Office of Parliamentary Counsel, AustraliaAUPb,tAs,Sb,Cd,tHg,Cr-totalactiveUpdated
Scope SB 929 covers jewelry for retail sale or promotional purposes in California, with specific provisions for children’s jewelry and body-piercing jewelry.
Scope The regulation applies to jewellery manufactured, sized, decorated, packaged, advertised, or sold in a manner that appeals primarily to children under 15 years of age.
Scope The regulation applies to consumer products containing lead, including products brought into contact with the mouth during normal use; clothing or clothing accessories intended for children under 14; learning or play products for children under 14; certain printed products for children under 1...
Scope Canada’s Surface Coating Materials Regulations, SOR/2016-193, apply to surface coating materials and to certain removable stickers, films, and surface coatings applied to accessible parts of specified products.
Government of Canada / Health CanadaCAPb,tHgactiveUpdated
Scope GB 21027-2020 covers student articles such as writing, drawing, correction, ink, and coated or printed school-supply materials, and includes a separate row for colored modeling clay.
State Administration for Market Regulation / Standardization Administration of ChinaCNSb,tAs,Cd,Cr-total,Pb,tHgactiveUpdated
Scope GB 28480-2012 covers adornments of various materials, excluding gems.
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine / Standardization Administration of ChinaCNNi,tAs,Cr-VI,tHg,Pb,Cd,Sb,Cr-totalactiveUpdated
Scope The Act applies to children’s jewelry, including charms, bracelets, pendants, necklaces, earrings, rings, and components designed or intended for children twelve years of age or younger.
Scope NC 877:2012 applies to wheat flour for human consumption, including prepackaged wheat flour ready for sale to consumers and wheat flour intended for use in other food products.
Oficina Nacional de Normalizacion (NC)CUPb,CdactiveUpdated
Scope The loaded clause applies to perfumery and cosmetic products placed on the Customs Union market in consumer packaging when the formulation contains natural plant or natural mineral raw material in a quantity greater than 1 percent.
Customs Union CommissionEAEUtAs,tHg,PbactiveUpdated
Scope This regulation amends REACH Annex XVII entry 23 for cadmium in mixtures and articles made from specified synthetic organic polymers, paints and painted articles, recovered PVC in listed rigid applications, brazing fillers, and metal jewellery components.
Scope This regulation amends REACH Annex XVII entry 47 for leather articles and articles containing leather parts that come into contact with the skin under normal or reasonably foreseeable use.
Scope The restriction covers articles supplied to the general public, or accessible parts of such articles, that may during normal or reasonably foreseeable use be placed in the mouth by children.
Scope The restriction applies to consumer clothing or related accessories, textiles other than clothing that contact human skin to a similar extent, and footwear.
Scope Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2081 amends REACH Annex XVII to restrict substances in mixtures for use for tattooing purposes and permanent make-up.
European CommissionEUtHg,Ni,Sb,tAs,Cd,Cr-VI,PbactiveUpdated
Scope This FSSAI amendment inserts additional metal-contaminant maximum levels into regulation 2.1.1, clause 2 of the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of IndiaINPb,tAs,Sn,Cd,tHg,Cr-totalactiveUpdated
Scope The 2008 MHLW specifications and standards compilation includes component standards for soft drink beverages and powdered drink beverages under Part I, Foodstuffs.
Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and WelfareJPSnactiveUpdated
Scope KS 2937:2021 applies to cosmetic products falling within the standard’s cosmetic definition and products listed in KS EAS 334, except medicated cosmetic products claiming therapeutic value.
Kenya Bureau of StandardsKEPb,tAs,tHgactiveUpdated
Scope Minnesota section 325E.3892 applies to covered products or product components including jewelry, toys, cosmetics and personal care products, games, school supplies, pots and pans, cups and food containers, craft supplies, art supplies, costumes, keys, clothing, footwear, headwear, and accessor...
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency / Minnesota Revisor of StatutesUS-MNPb,CdactiveUpdated
Scope The provision applies to children’s jewelry sold in Minnesota, specifically cadmium in any surface coating or accessible substrate material of metal or plastic components.
Scope Joint Order No. 2410-22 modifies and completes Joint Order No.
Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests; Ministry of Health and Social ProtectionMAPb,Cd,tHg,Sn,iAs,tAsactiveUpdated
Scope The loaded rows cover Schedule 6 impurity requirements for carbon black and carbon black (nano) colouring agents used in cosmetic products, and Schedule 7 mercury-preservative entries for eye products.
New Zealand Environmental Protection AuthorityNZtAs,Pb,tHgactiveUpdated
Scope The heavy-metals table applies to fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, leguminous vegetables, vegetable oils, and related plant products handled and marketed in Panama.
Scope PNS/BAFS 194:2017 provides maximum levels for contaminants and natural toxins in primary and postharvest agriculture and fishery commodities applicable in trade.
Philippines Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries StandardsPHiAs,Cd,Pb,MeHgactiveUpdated
Scope The Health Products (Cosmetic Products - ASEAN Cosmetic Directive) Regulations 2007 govern supply and composition of cosmetic products in Singapore.
Singapore Health Sciences AuthoritySGtAs,Pb,tHgactiveUpdated
Scope Regulation 31 of Singapore’s Food Regulations applies to import, sale, advertising, manufacture, consignment, and delivery of food containing heavy metals above prescribed limits.
Scope GN R1227 prohibits lead and its salts, mercury and its salts, active depigmenting ingredients, and cosmetics marketed as skin bleachers, lighteners, or whiteners.
South Africa Minister of National Health and Population DevelopmentZAtHgactiveUpdated
Scope The recorded rows come from section 1.2.14 inorganic-contaminant limits for foods, section 14 fish-freshness/safety criteria, and section 12.5.13 ceramic migration limits that are expressed in mg/kg.
Uruguay Ministerio de Salud PublicaUYSb,tAs,Pb,Sn,tHg,CdactiveUpdated
Scope QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT applies to importers, producers, and sellers of food products at risk of heavy-metal contamination, and to relevant organizations and individuals.
Vietnam Ministry of HealthVNtAs,Cd,Pb,tHg,MeHg,SnactiveUpdated
Scope The Act covers children’s products in Washington State, including toys, children’s cosmetics, children’s jewelry, sucking or teething products, products for sleep, relaxation, feeding, or children’s clothing, and child car seats.
Washington State LegislatureUS-WAPb,CdactiveUpdated
Overview This page records the local English translation of Japan’s Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk Products ingested as Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk products Concerning Compositional Standards, etc.
Ministry of Health, Labour and WelfareJPPb,Cd,tAssource-snapshotUpdated
Overview California’s two cosmetic-relevant heavy-metal instruments set no numeric concentration limit for heavy metals in cosmetic products.
OEHHA (Proposition 65); State of California (AB 2762, Health and Safety Code)US-CAmultiple (Prop 65: Pb, Cd, and others as exposure thresholds; AB 2762: intentionally-added Hg prohibition)enforcedUpdated
Overview Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on cosmetic products (recast) is the EU’s binding framework for cosmetic products.
European Parliament and Council (enforced by EU Member States)EUmultiple (Annex II prohibits Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Sb, Be, Cr and their compounds as ingredients)enforcedUpdated
Overview Health Canada’s Guidance on Heavy Metal Impurities in Cosmetics sets numeric impurity limits for five heavy metals in finished cosmetic products: lead 10 ppm, arsenic 3 ppm, cadmium 3 ppm, mercury 1 ppm, antimony 5 ppm.
Health CanadaCAmultiple (Pb, tAs, Cd, tHg, Sb)guidanceUpdated
Overview Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/1987 of 30 July 2024 amends Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 by inserting a new entry 3.6 (Nickel) into Section 3 of Annex I (Reg.
Overview Chromium (hexavalent compounds) is listed under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) under two separate findings: as a carcinogen, listed February 27, 1987 through the Labor Code listing mechanism, and as a developmental, female reproductive, a...
Overview Commission Recommendation (EU) 2024/907 of 22 March 2024 directs EU Member States, in collaboration with food business operators, to monitor the presence of nickel in food during 2025, 2026 and 2027 (Rec.
Overview Codex CXS 193-1995, the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed, sets international maximum levels for total tin in canned foods.
Overview Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 set enforceable EU-wide maximum levels for heavy metal and other contaminants in foodstuffs.
European CommissionEUPb,Cd,tHg,MeHg,iAs,SnsupersededUpdated
Overview Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1006 amended Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 by adding maximum levels for inorganic arsenic in rice and selected rice products.
Overview Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/73 of 16 January 2018 amended Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 for maximum residue levels (MRLs) of mercury compounds in or on certain products.
Overview The Washington State Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act (TFCA) sets a 1000 µg/kg (1000 ppb, 1 ppm) statutory maximum for lead in toothpaste sold in Washington State, effective 2025-01-01.
Washington State Department of EcologyUS-WAPbenforcedUpdated
Overview Under the Closer to Zero program, the US Food and Drug Administration has established a 10 ppb action level for lead in a consolidated category of processed foods intended for babies and young children less than two years of age (FDA CTZ Pb 2025).
Overview Under the Closer to Zero program, the US Food and Drug Administration has established a 20 ppb action level for lead in dry infant cereals (FDA CTZ Pb 2025).
Overview Under the Closer to Zero program, the US Food and Drug Administration has established a 20 ppb action level for lead in processed single-ingredient root vegetables intended for babies and young children less than two years of age (FDA CTZ Pb 2025).
Overview FDA’s Juice HACCP guidance recommends controls to ensure lead levels in ready-to-drink fruit juices and fruit nectars do not exceed 50 ppb when lead is a hazard reasonably likely to occur.
Overview FDA’s 2022 draft guidance would set lead action levels of 10 ppb for single-strength apple juice and 20 ppb for other single-strength juices and juice blends.
Overview Lead and lead compounds are listed under California’s Proposition 65 in two separate categories: as chemicals known to the state to cause cancer, and as chemicals known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity (developmental, male, and female endpoints) (OEHHA Prop 65 Pb).
Overview Closer to Zero is the US Food and Drug Administration’s program to reduce childhood dietary exposure to lead, cadmium, inorganic arsenic, and mercury by setting action levels for foods commonly consumed by babies and young children under two years of age (FDA CTZ Pb 2025).
Overview This is the canonical Heavy Metal Index regulation node for FDA’s January 2025 final guidance, Action Levels for Lead in Processed Food Intended for Babies and Young Children.
Value FieldValueMetal speciesInorganic arsenic, sum of As(III) and As(V)Maximum level0.030 mg/kgNormalized value30 ug/kgBasisWet weightProduct scopeNon-alcoholic rice-based drinksRegulatory sourceCurrent EU contaminants framework: Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, Annex I, section 3.4.1.6; value ...
Overview The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry derived oral Minimal Risk Levels for aluminum in its September 2008 Toxicological Profile, anchored on neurotoxic effects in lifetime-exposed mice (Golub et al.
Overview The EFSA AFC Panel established a tolerable weekly intake for aluminium of 1 mg Al/kg body weight per week in its May 2008 Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Aluminium from Dietary Intake, replacing the prior JECFA provisional tolerable weekly intake of 7 mg/kg b.w./week (a sevenfold reduct...
Overview The EFSA CONTAM Panel concluded in October 2009 that the prior JECFA provisional tolerable weekly intake of 15 µg inorganic arsenic per kilogram body weight per week is no longer appropriate, on the basis that inorganic arsenic causes cancer (lung, bladder, skin) at exposures below the PTWI...
Overview EFSA’s Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain established in its March 2010 Scientific Opinion on Lead in Food that the previous JECFA provisional tolerable weekly intake of 25 µg/kg b.w./week is no longer appropriate, on the basis that the dose-response evidence for the most sensitive lea...
Overview The EFSA CONTAM Panel maintained the tolerable weekly intake for inorganic mercury at 4 µg Hg/kg body weight per week in its December 2012 Scientific Opinion on Mercury and Methylmercury in Food, aligned with the prior JECFA value (EFSA Hg 2012).
Overview The EFSA CONTAM Panel established a tolerable weekly intake for methylmercury of 1.3 µg Hg/kg body weight per week in its December 2012 Scientific Opinion on Mercury and Methylmercury in Food, lowering the prior JECFA-aligned value of 1.6 µg/kg b.w./week (EFSA Hg 2012).
Overview The EFSA CONTAM Panel established a tolerable daily intake for nickel of 13 µg Ni/kg body weight per day in its September 2020 update of the risk assessment of nickel in food and drinking water, anchored on a BMDL10 of 1.3 mg Ni/kg b.w./day for increased post-implantation loss in rats (EFSA...
Overview The US Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion (10 µg/L), established in the 2001 Final Rule for Arsenic in Drinking Water and effective for compliance from January 23, 2006 (EPA As MCL).
Overview The EPA Integrated Risk Information System chemical assessment for cadmium provides two route-specific oral reference doses that reflect the different absorption efficiency of cadmium in water versus food matrices (EPA IRIS Cd 1989).
Overview The January 2025 EPA IRIS Toxicological Review of Inorganic Arsenic (EPA/635/R-25/005Fa, CASRN 7440-38-2) is the finalized US Environmental Protection Agency reassessment of inorganic arsenic toxicity (EPA IRIS iAs 2025).
Overview The EPA Integrated Risk Information System chemical assessment for inorganic lead does not derive a quantitative oral reference dose (EPA IRIS Pb 2004).
Overview The EPA Integrated Risk Information System chemical assessment summary for mercuric chloride (HgCl2, CASRN 7487-94-7) provides the operative US federal oral reference dose for inorganic mercury (EPA IRIS Hg).
Overview The EPA Integrated Risk Information System chemical assessment for methylmercury (CASRN 22967-92-6) provides the operative US federal oral reference dose for methylmercury exposure, anchored on developmental neurotoxicity observed in the Faroe Islands and Seychelles cohort studies (EPA IRIS...
Overview Under the Closer to Zero program, the US Food and Drug Administration has established an action level of 100 parts per billion inorganic arsenic in rice cereals for infants, finalized in the August 2020 Federal Register notice (Docket FDA-2016-D-1099) (FDA iAs 2020).
Overview The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, at its 73rd meeting in June 2010, withdrew the long-standing provisional tolerable weekly intake of 25 µg lead per kilogram body weight per week and replaced it with no quantitative international reference value (JECFA 73rd 2010).
Overview The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, at its 61st meeting in June 2003 (report published 2004 as WHO Technical Report Series 922), established the provisional tolerable weekly intake for methylmercury at 1.6 µg MeHg/kg body weight per week, replacing the prior PTWI of 3.3 (J...
Overview The US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has derived four minimal risk levels for cadmium in its September 2012 Toxicological Profile, covering inhalation and oral routes across acute and chronic durations (ATSDR 2012).
Overview The Codex Alimentarius Commission establishes international maximum levels for contaminants in food, harmonized through the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (Codex CCCF17 2024).
Overview The European Food Safety Authority Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain established a tolerable weekly intake for cadmium of 2.5 µg per kilogram body weight per week in its scientific opinion adopted 30 January 2009 (EFSA Cd 2009).
Overview The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives established a provisional tolerable monthly intake for cadmium of 25 µg per kilogram body weight per month at its 73rd meeting in 2010 (JECFA 73rd 2010), with the associated 73rd-meeting report published in 2011 as WHO Technical Report Se...
Overview Cadmium is listed under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65) under two separate findings: as a carcinogen (listing pre-dating this wiki’s ingest corpus, with a separately derived No Significant Risk Level that is not yet ingested) and as a repr...