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Heavy Metal Index

Regulatory bodies

Directory

Profiles of every regulatory body that sets heavy-metal limits or guidance the Heavy Metal Index tracks — what each body is, its positions across metals, where it diverges, and how it has changed. Auto-regenerated.

Each body below has a profile page: what it is and whether its numbers are binding, its positions across every metal, where it diverges from other bodies, its update log, and its key documents. These are the parent pages above the per-instrument regulation pages. See also positions by metal.

International (FAO/WHO)

European Union

United States (federal)

United States — California

Update history

This page is regenerated from upstream evidence records on every build, so its version history is the history of that upstream data rather than of hand edits. The full commit record lives in git.

10 items under this folder.

  • Regulatory positions by metal

    Every tracked regulatory body's stance on each metal, side by side. Auto-regenerated from wiki/static/regulations.json on every build.

    Updated
    • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

      United States (federal) · Advisory — screening Minimal Risk Levels, not enforceable · Established 1985 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.atsdr.cdc.gov Quick read The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the US CDC, publishes toxicological...

      USUpdated
      • Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex)

        International (FAO/WHO) · International reference standard — adopted voluntarily by members · Established 1963 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius Quick read The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the FAO/WHO body that sets volun...

        internationalUpdated
        • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

          European Union · Advisory — risk assessment, not binding law · Established 2002 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.efsa.europa.eu Quick read EFSA is the European Union’s independent risk-assessment agency for food safety.

          EUUpdated
          • European Commission (EC)

            European Union · Binding — legally enforceable maximum levels · Established 1958 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · food.ec.europa.eu Quick read The European Commission sets the legally binding maximum levels for heavy metals in food across the European Union, now...

            EUUpdated
            • Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)

              International (FAO/WHO) · Advisory — health-based guidance to Codex · Established 1956 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.who.int Quick read JECFA is the joint expert committee of the FAO and WHO that performs international risk assessments of additives and co...

              internationalUpdated
              • California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)

                United States — California · Binding — Proposition 65 warning law (listings + MADL/NSRL) · Established 1991 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · oehha.ca.gov Quick read California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment runs the science behind Proposition...

                US-CAUpdated
                • United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

                  United States (federal) · Reference — blood-lead biomonitoring value, not a food limit · Established 1946 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.cdc.gov Quick read The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not set food limits.

                  USUpdated
                  • United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)

                    United States (federal) · Mixed — IRIS assessments (advisory) + binding water limits · Established 1970 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.epa.gov Quick read The US Environmental Protection Agency contributes two different kinds of value.

                    USUpdated
                    • United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

                      United States (federal) · Guidance — action levels (not health-based limits) · Established 1906 · Authored by Karen Pendergrass, Institute of Contaminant Standards · www.fda.gov Quick read The US Food and Drug Administration regulates heavy metals in food mainly through action levels — the concentr...

                      USUpdated