Regulations by jurisdiction

This page is the cross-cut view of every regulation the Heavy Metal Index tracks, organised by jurisdiction. Brand-legal and regulatory-affairs readers comparing how different jurisdictions regulate the same metal should land here.

The page is auto-regenerated on every build from the [jurisdiction, metals, limit_value] frontmatter on each regulation page. Edits by hand are overwritten on the next prebuild — propose schema changes on methodology instead.

Coverage matrix

How many regulation pages the index carries for each (metal, jurisdiction) cell. A blank cell means the index does not yet track any regulation for that combination — that is either a real coverage gap or an ingest backlog item.

Metal	United States (federal)	United States — California	United States — Washington State	European Union	International (Codex / JECFA / WHO)	China	Mexico	Australia	New Zealand	Ecuador	Turkey	Total
Lead	8	1	1	6	1	3	3	1	1		1	25
Cadmium	3	1		6	2	3	3	1	1			19
Inorganic arsenic	4	1		4	1	3		1	1			14
Total arsenic				1		3	1	1	1			6
Total mercury	1			5		3	2	1	1	1		13
Methylmercury	2			2	1	3	3					11
Inorganic mercury	1			1								2
Nickel				2		3						5
Aluminium	1			1				1	1			3
Chromium						3						3
Tin				2	1	3	2	1	1			9

Regulations grouped by jurisdiction

United States (federal)

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
FDA CPG Sec. 540.600 Fish, Shellfish, Crustaceans and other Aquatic Animals — Methyl Mercury	FDA	Methylmercury	1 ppm methyl mercury expressed as mercury	active	1984-11-06
EPA IRIS — Cadmium Oral Reference Doses	EPA	Cadmium	1 µg/kg-bw/day-food	in-force	1989-10-01
EPA IRIS — Mercuric Chloride Oral Reference Dose	EPA	Inorganic mercury	0.3 µg/kg-bw/day	in-force	1995-05-01
EPA IRIS — Methylmercury Oral Reference Dose	EPA	Methylmercury	0.1 µg/kg-bw/day	in-force	2001-07-27
EPA IRIS — Lead, Oral RfD and Carcinogenicity Assessment	EPA	Lead	not-derived	qualitative-only	2004-07-08
EPA — Maximum Contaminant Level for Arsenic in Drinking Water	EPA	Inorganic arsenic	10 ppb	in-force	2006-01-23
ATSDR — Minimal Risk Levels for Aluminum	ATSDR	Aluminium	1 mg/kg-bw/day	in-force	2008-09-01
ATSDR — Minimal Risk Levels for Cadmium	ATSDR	Cadmium	0.1 µg/kg-bw/day	in-force	2012-09-01
FDA Closer to Zero — 100 ppb Inorganic Arsenic Action Level for Infant Rice Cereal	FDA	Inorganic arsenic	100 ppb	finalized	2020-08-06
FDA Closer to Zero — Program Overview	FDA	Lead, Cadmium, Inorganic arsenic, Total mercury	—	—	2021-04-01
EPA IRIS — Inorganic Arsenic Toxicological Review (January 2025)	EPA	Inorganic arsenic	pending-extraction	finalized-2025	2025-01-01
Puddings, Single-Ingredient Meats)	FDA	Lead	10 ppb	finalized	—
FDA Closer to Zero — 20 ppb Lead Action Level for Dry Infant Cereals	FDA	Lead	20 ppb	finalized	—
FDA Closer to Zero — 20 ppb Lead Action Level for Single-Ingredient Root Vegetables (Baby Food)	FDA	Lead	20 ppb	finalized	—
FDA Juice HACCP — 50 ppb Lead Guidance Context for Juice	FDA	Lead	50 ppb	current-guidance-context	—
FDA 2022 Draft — Lead Action Levels for Juice	FDA	Lead	multiple ppb	draft-not-for-implementation	—
FDA 2025 Lead Action Levels for Processed Food Intended for Babies and Young Children	FDA	Lead	—	final guidance action level	—

United States — California

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
California Proposition 65 — Cadmium Listing and Maximum Allowable Daily Level	OEHHA	Cadmium	4.1 µg/day-oral	in-force	1997-05-01
California Proposition 65 — Inorganic Arsenic Compounds Listing	OEHHA	Inorganic arsenic	NSRL-pending	in-force	—
California Proposition 65 — Lead and Lead Compounds Listing	OEHHA	Lead	multiple ug/day	in-force	—

United States — Washington State

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
washington-tfca-toothpaste-pb-1000ppb	Washington State Department of Ecology	Lead	1000 ppb	enforced	2025-01-01

European Union

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
2001 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs	European Commission	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury	multiple mg/kg	superseded	2002-04-05
2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs	European Commission	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Inorganic arsenic, Tin	—	superseded	2007-03-01
week)	EFSA	Aluminium	1 mg/kg-bw/week	in-force	2008-05-22
week	EFSA	Cadmium	2.5 µg/kg-bw/week	in-force	2009-01-30
EFSA — Arsenic in Food (2009), No-PTWI Position	EFSA	Inorganic arsenic	BMDL01	in-force-no-threshold	2009-10-01
EFSA — Lead in Food (2010), No-Threshold Position	EFSA	Lead	µg/kg-bw/day-BMDL	in-force-no-threshold	2010-03-18
week)	EFSA	Inorganic mercury	4 µg/kg-bw/week	in-force	2012-12-01
week)	EFSA	Methylmercury	1.3 µg/kg-bw/week	in-force	2012-12-01
eu-2015-1006-iAs-rice	European Commission	Inorganic arsenic	0.2,0.25,0.3,0.1 mg/kg wet weight	superseded	2016-01-01
eu-reg-2018-73-mercury-compounds-mrls	European Commission	Total mercury	0.01 mg/kg as mercury	finalized	2018-02-07
day)	EFSA	Nickel	13 µg/kg-bw/day	in-force	2020-09-24
1317 - Lead maximum level for cereals and pulses	European Commission	Lead	0.2 mg/kg wet weight	superseded	2021-08-30
1323 - Cadmium maximum levels for cereals	European Commission	Cadmium	multiple mg/kg wet weight	superseded	2021-08-31
eu-reg-2022-617-mercury-fish	European Commission	Total mercury	0.3,0.5,1,0.1 mg/kg ww	finalized	2022-05-03
915 cadmium maximum levels	European Commission	Cadmium	—	maximum levels	—
915 — Lead Maximum Levels for Infant and Young-Child Foods	European Commission	Lead	multiple ppb	in-force	—
EC	European Commission	Nickel	—	historical-as-described-in-source	—
EU inorganic arsenic maximum level for non-alcoholic rice-based drinks	European Commission		—	maximum level	—
915 maximum levels for contaminants in food	European Commission	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury, Inorganic arsenic, Total arsenic, Tin	—	maximum levels	—

International (Codex / JECFA / WHO)

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
Codex CXS 193-1995 - Tin maximum levels for canned foods	Codex Alimentarius Commission	Tin	multiple mg/kg	active	1995-01-01
week)	JECFA	Methylmercury	1.6 µg/kg-bw/week	in-force	2003-06-01
month	JECFA	Cadmium	25 µg/kg-bw/month	in-force	2010-06-01
JECFA — Lead Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (Withdrawn 2010)	JECFA	Lead	µg/kg-bw/week	withdrawn	2010-06-01
Codex Alimentarius — Maximum Levels for Cadmium in Food	Codex Alimentarius Commission	Cadmium	mg/kg	partial-ingest	—
JECFA inorganic arsenic BMDL₀.₅ (lower-limit benchmark dose)	JECFA (FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives)	Inorganic arsenic	—	stub	—

China

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
china-gb-2762-2012-contaminants-superseded	Ministry of Health	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Total arsenic, Inorganic arsenic, Tin, Nickel, Chromium	multiple mg/kg; food-specific maximum levels	superseded	2013-06-01
china-gb-2762-2017-contaminants-superseded	National Health and Family Planning Commission; China Food and Drug Administration	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Total arsenic, Inorganic arsenic, Tin, Nickel, Chromium	multiple mg/kg; food-specific maximum levels	superseded	2017-09-17
china-gb-2762-2022-contaminants	National Health Commission; State Administration for Market Regulation	Lead, Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Total arsenic, Inorganic arsenic, Tin, Nickel, Chromium	multiple mg/kg; food-specific maximum levels	active	2023-06-30

Mexico

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-027-SSA1-1993, Productos de la pesca: pescados frescos-refrigerados y congelados	Secretaria de Salud	Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Lead	multiple mg/kg	superseded	1995-04-02
Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-028-SSA1-1993, Productos de la pesca: pescados en conserva	Secretaria de Salud	Cadmium, Total mercury, Methylmercury, Lead, Tin	multiple mg/kg	superseded	1995-04-02
Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-242-SSA1-2009, Productos de la pesca frescos, refrigerados, congelados y procesados	Secretaria de Salud	Total arsenic, Cadmium, Methylmercury, Lead, Tin	multiple mg/kg	active	2011-05-10

Australia

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Schedule 19 - Maximum levels of contaminants and natural toxicants	Food Standards Australia New Zealand	Aluminium, Total arsenic, Inorganic arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Total mercury, Tin	multiple mg/kg	in-force	2016-03-01

New Zealand

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - Schedule 19 - Maximum levels of contaminants and natural toxicants	Food Standards Australia New Zealand	Aluminium, Total arsenic, Inorganic arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Total mercury, Tin	multiple mg/kg	in-force	2016-03-01

Ecuador

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
ecuador-nte-inen-184-2013-canned-tuna	Instituto Ecuatoriano de Normalización	Total mercury	1 mg/kg total mercury as Hg	active	2013-01-29

Turkey

Title	Agency	Metals	Limit	Status	Effective
turkey-food-codex-contaminants-2023-lead-raw-milk	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	Lead	0.02 mg/kg wet weight	in-force	2023-11-05

How to read this surface

This is a navigation index, not a substitute for reading the underlying regulations. Limits expressed in different units (mg/kg vs µg/kg-bw/week vs ppb) are not directly comparable across rows — use the limit column to confirm the basis before comparing values. Where a cell carries multiple regulations for the same metal, the most recent supersedes the older one unless both remain in force in different matrices. The timeline view shows the chronological tightening.

The wiki tracks regulatory limits as published; it does not endorse them. See HMTc separation policy for why the wiki’s reporting of regulatory values is kept architecturally separate from the Heavy Metal Tested & Certified certification program’s threshold-setting.

Page history

This page is auto-regenerated from upstream data on every build. Edits by hand are overwritten on the next prebuild. See the generator named in the page intro for the data source and update cadence; the full commit history lives in git.