Consumer-commissioned laboratory test of a 13% zinc oxide diaper rash cream for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic (lot 2025-218)

One retail unit of a 13% zinc oxide diaper rash cream contained 1244.1 ppb lead and 45.26 ppb cadmium as received, by ICP-MS at an independent laboratory. Arsenic and mercury were below the reporting values. It is the only product under 40% zinc oxide among the four with a laboratory report in this collection, and its lead result is the lowest of the four.

Key numbers

Laboratory report: Purity Laboratories, Inc.; case 2509614; received 09/30/2025, tested 10/02/2025, completed 10/03/2025. The sample was described to the laboratory as “Diaper Ointment Z 13% Lot# 2025-218”. The advocate’s annotation identifies a 13% zinc oxide diaper rash cream.

Analyte	Result (ppb, as received)	Note
Arsenic	< 10.00	below reporting value; not speciated
Cadmium	45.26	detected
Lead	1244.1	detected
Mercury	< 5.00	below reporting value; not speciated

The article describes the lead level as “over 1,200 parts per billion”, which matches the report. It also states: “The level of Lead found in this and other Zinc-Oxide-based diaper ointments is not at all illegal.”

Methods (brief)

ICP-MS. No sample mass, digestion, calibration, recovery, detection limit or accreditation is printed. Results apply to the sample as received. Arsenic and mercury are totals.

Evidence fitness

The report supports one as-received result for this unit. Taken with the three 40% zinc oxide reports, it shows lead above 1,000 ppb in a product at 13% zinc oxide as well as at 40%. Four single-lot results cannot establish a relationship between zinc oxide content and lead.

Limitations

This is a single advocate-selected sample. The article also discusses a third-party consumer ranking of diaper ointments. That discussion is not measurement evidence and is not used here.

Update history

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