How to test for Aluminum, Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic in the Body

 Measuring the Body Burden of Toxic Trace Metals in Humans

Dennis N. Crouse

3/24/2021

 

Aluminum – Drinking water containing orthosilicic acid (OSA) has been proven to remove aluminum from most organs of the body including bone and brain. Therefore, the best way to measure your body burden of aluminum is to drink a liter of Fiji water or Silicade that contains 124ppm of OSA and then collect your urine for 24 hours. Measure the total volume of the collected urine and have total aluminum concentration (in units of nanomolar) and total creatinine (in units of micromolar) both quantified in the collected urine. The ratio of aluminum to creatinine concentrations reflects the urine aluminum through-out the body over a 24-hour period. This is more representative of your aluminum body burden than a blood sample that is only representative of the time and place where the blood sample is taken. It is also more reliable than hair samples as some shampoo and hair colorants have aluminum as an ingredient.

Based upon the color of your urine you know that it is sometimes more dilute than at other times. This can be due to inhibition of diuretic hormone by substances, such as alcohol, that reduce the reabsorption of water from the urine resulting in dilute urine. Both aluminum and creatinine once in the kidney are not reabsorbed back into the blood, unlike water. Creatinine is a breakdown waste product from muscle and is present in a narrow concentration range in urine. Therefore, a ratio of aluminum to creatinine concentrations minimizes the effect of urine dilution.

For 10 healthy adults who had not consumed 1 liter of OSA rich water the mean of urinary aluminum (nM/mM creatinine) is 43 and silicon (mcM/mM creatinine) is 32. These numbers are dependent upon the health of an individual and amount of aluminum and silicon in their diet and drinking water. For instance, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is a disease in which aluminum accumulates in the brain at levels higher than normal. Patients with SPMS who drank 1 to 1.5 liters per day of OSA rich water for twelve weeks had mean urinary aluminum levels of 135 (nM/mM creatinine) before drinking OSA rich water and 349 (nM/mM creatinine) after 12 weeks or drinking OSA rich water.

Here is a link to a lab that does this type of testing.  https://requestatest.com/aluminum-urine-test

If you are outside the US here is what you need to look for when choosing a lab.   

Measuring Accumulated Aluminum – The best way to measure your body burden of accumulated aluminum is to have your urine tested for total aluminum excreted in 24 hours. This test can be performed by a laboratory, such as LabCorp (test no. 071555)³⁴. The 24-hour total aluminum test has three requirements:

·       Aluminum must be measured in units of mg/L or mM/L by the laboratory

·       Aluminum must be detected down to a level of 3mg/L that is equivalent to 0.11 mM/L

·       The total volume of urine must be measured in liters (L)

There are laboratories that only report aluminum/creatinine ratios and/or can’t detect aluminum at sufficiently low levels. Check with the laboratory first before submitting your urine for testing. 

The 24-hour aluminum test is usually performed by collecting your urine for 24 hours in a container provided by the testing laboratory. Do not pour anything but urine into the container and do not pour anything out of the container. The  container should be kept at a cool temperature throughout the collection period and during travel to the laboratory. Follow these instructions for collecting your 24-hour urine specimen:

1.     Upon arising in the morning, urinate into the toilet, emptying your bladder completely. Do not collect this sample. Note the exact time and print it on the container.

2.     Collect in the provided container, optionally using a plastic collection pan, all urine voided for 24 hours after this time, including urine passed during bowel movements. 

3.     At exactly the same time the following morning, void completely again after awakening. This completes the 24-hour urine specimen that must be taken to the lab.

Test results can indicate “Aluminum, Urine 24 Hr.”  as the number of micrograms of aluminum excreted in 24 hours (mg/24hr). Divide mg/24hr by 27 to get micromoles of aluminum excreted in 24 hours (mM/24hr). If your test results are in units of mg/L or mM/L, multiply by the number of liters of urine that was collected in order to get total 24-hour aluminum in units of mg/24hr or mM/24hr. For interpreting your test results see table 4 where the units of measure are mM/24hr.

 

Lead – Exposure to lead can be measured with a whole blood test. However, the blood lead level (BLL) is not a reliable indicator of prior or cumulative dose or total body burden of lead. An indicator of prior lead exposure is a buildup of erythrocyte protoporphyrin in red blood cells. Tests are used to measure free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) and zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) in the blood. When BLLs reach or exceed 25mcg/dL an increase in FEP and/or ZPP can be detected. These increases in FEP and ZPP usually lag increases in BLL by two to six weeks.  When BLLs reach 40mcg/dL the FEP or ZPP levels increase abruptly and stay elevated for 3-4 months which is the average life span of a red blood cell.

·       Elevated BLL and Normal FEP/ZPP = Recent exposure to lead in last 2-6 weeks

·       Elevated BLL and Elevated FEP/ZPP = Chronic/ongoing exposure to lead

There is no safe level of lead and all adults have some body burden of lead. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) in 2015 indicated 5mcg/dL as a reference BLL above which action should be taken to target the detox of lead.

Mercury – Mercury in the body can be in three chemical forms: organic mercury, such as methylmercury from eating fish, inorganic mercury, such as mercuric ion and mercury selenide, and metallic mercury, such as the mercury in dental fillings and some thermometers.

·       Methylmercury is measured in a whole blood sample taken from a vein.

·       Inorganic mercury and metallic mercury are measured in a random or 24-hour urine sample.

A hair sample can be measured to indicate exposure to increased levels of methyl mercury. However, hair samples are rarely used due to hair exposure to mercury containing dyes, bleach, and shampoo.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define the laboratory criteria for a diagnosis of excessive mercury exposure is blood mercury level greater than 10mcg/L. Most people have hair mercury levels well below 1mcg/gr (ppm). Adults with average hair mercury level of 4.2mcg/gr have neuropsychological function deficits.  Maternal hair mercury levels of 0.3 to 1.2mcg/gr have been associated with prenatal neurodevelopmental effects. If you have levels over these limits, stop eating fish and begin augmenting your diet with L-selenomethionine.

 

Arsenic – Significant exposure to arsenic results in greater than 12nanograms/ml in blood taken 4 to 6 hours after exposure. Blood concentration of arsenic are elevated for only a short period of time after exposure. This is because arsenic has a high affinity for tissue proteins. The body treats arsenic like phosphate and incorporates it in place of phosphate.  Arsenic is excreted at the same rate as phosphate with an excretion half-life of 12 days because most of ingested arsenic is in tissues, not in the blood where it has a half-life of 4 to 6 hours. Therefore, 24-hour total urine samples, not blood samples, are most useful for measuring the body burden of arsenic. The concentration of inorganic arsenic and its metabolites (i.e., MMA and DMA) in urine reflects the body burden of absorbed arsenic due to acute or chronic arsenic exposure.

Hair analysis can only be used as a screening tool for arsenic intoxication as there can be arsenic deposition in hair due to hair exposure to arsenic containing dyes, bleach, and shampoo. Also, there are uncertainties about the normal levels of arsenic in hair.     

Safety of Fiji Water

 

How Safe is Bottled Fiji Water

Dennis N. Crouse

March 15, 2021 updated in January 2025

 

Fiji water is sold in recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles¹. Fiji water is a unique bottled water because the bottle is made of 100% PET that is more economic to recycle than bottles made of mixed plastics¹. Both glass and PET bottles were used to store water from the same spring and in both cases no endocrine disrupters were released into the water^2,3. This suggests that known endocrine disruptors, such as di-2-ethyhexyl phthalate (DEP)⁴, optionally added to some PET as a plasticizer, may be the cause of endocrine disruption seen with water stored in some non-Fiji PET bottles². Fiji water has been tested and found to contain no detectable DEP⁵. Also, it is claimed the PET Fiji uses, does not contain phthalate plasticizers¹.

Fiji water is also a unique bottled water because of its high concentration of orthosilicic acid (OSA) which is a water-soluble form of silica. OSA exists as single molecules [i.e., Si(OH)₄] at a concentration of 124-149ppm⁶. Drinking water containing less than 160ppm of OSA (equivalent to 100ppm of dissolved silica) is generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. FDA⁷.

In addition to OSA, Fiji water also contains bicarbonate, calcium, chloride, magnesium, sodium, and sulfate, all of which are considered harmless⁵. In addition, Fiji water contains the following trace metals including arsenic (1.2ppb), and fluoride (0.24ppm)^5,8 that are well below the maximum contaminant levels [MCL or SMCL set by the U.S. EPA]. Also, Fiji water was filtered through a 0.45micron filter and then the filter was examined using a 45x power microscope to reveal 12 particles of unknown composition/liter⁹.

·       Aluminum: 0 ppb¹⁰ (levels of aluminum over 100ppb have been linked to Alzheimer’s)¹⁰

·       Antimony: 0 ppb⁵ (6 ppb MCL)^{Note 1}

·       Arsenic: 0.59ppb¹⁴ to 1.2ppb⁵ (10ppb MCL)

·       Fluoride: 0.24ppm^5,8 (2.0ppm SMCL)

·       Lead: 0 ppb⁵ (0ppb MCL)

·       Mercury: 0 ppb⁵ (2ppb MCL)

·       Particles: 12/liter⁹ where usually only 1 in 3000 is a micro- or nanoplastic particle^{Note 2,3}

Therefore, Fiji water is safe to drink. 

 Note 1: An insignificant amount antimony is leached out of PET into bottled water after 3 months of storage at 22^oC (71.6^oF)¹¹. However, storage of drinking water in PET containers at greater than 70^oC (the glass transition temperature of PET) has been shown to add antimony to the stored water¹¹.

Note 2: Fiji water is “micron-filtered” prior to bottling in order to remove particles⁵. A study that found 12 particles larger than 0.45 microns per liter of Fiji water, used a microscope that could not identify the composition of the particles⁹. When looking at small particles with just a microscope it is impossible to discern their composition¹².   People who use equipment that can discern composition of particles (e.g., Raman spectrometer) have not examined the particles in Fiji water. However, they have found that only 1 particle in 3000 particles in river water is microplastic¹². The toxicology of microplastic particles is currently unknown but in spite of this, plastic microbeads were used for a number of years in some toothpastes and cosmetics. Because microbeads may be mistaken as food by fish, the Microbead Free Waters Act of 2015 by the U.S. FDA outlaws the manufacture, delivery, and sale of any rinse-off products (e.g., toothpastes, cosmetics, and over the counter drugs) containing microbeads smaller than 5 millimeters¹³.

Note 3: Research in 2024 on humans by analysis of their olfactory lobes indicates that inhalation and not ingestion of micro and nanoplastics in the air is the major pathway for micro and nanoplastics to enter the brain¹⁵.  The inhalation route of entry does not involve crossing the blood-brain barrier. The amount of micro and nanoplastic in the frontal cortex of human brains were as high as 0.48% by weight in 2016 and 0.88% in 2024¹⁶. This 2-fold rise is not surprising when compared to rising nano and microplastics in the atmosphere and with a similar 2-fold rise of microplastic concentrations observed in Greenland Sea water during the time period 2005 to 2014^17,18.  

References

1. Lynch, I., et al.; Fiji water A sustainability report; University of Vermont (2010)

2. Wagner, M., and Oehlmann, J.; Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: total estrogenic burden and migration from plastic bottles; Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res.; 16:278-86 (2009)

 3. Chung, B.Y., et al.; Uterotropic and Hershberger assays for endocrine disruption properties of plastic food contact materials polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET); J. Toxicol. Envrion. Health, Part A; 76(10):624-34 (2013)

4. Latini, G., et al.; Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate and endocrine disruption: a review; Curr. Drug Targets Immune Endocr. Metabol. Disord.; Mar.; 4(1):37-40 (2004)

5. Fiji Water; Bottled water quality report; January (2017)

6. Crouse, D.N.; Silica water the secret of healthy blue zone longevity in the aluminum age, Etiological Publishing (2018)

7. Select committee on GRAS substances – SCOGS-61, NTIS Pb 301-402/AS (1979)

8. Delaney, J. as Client; Tweed Laboratory Centre; NSW Australia; Laboratory report on Fiji water (2019)

9. Barrows, A.P.W., Anthropogenic microparticle contamination in bottled water for human consumption; (2018)

10. Crouse, D.N.; Prevent Alzheimer’s, autism, and stroke with 7 supplements, 7 lifestyle choices, and a dissolved mineral; Etiological Publishing (2016)

11. Westerhoff, P., et al.; Antimony leaching from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic used for bottled drinking water; Water Res.; Feb.; 42(3):551-6 (2018)

12. Ivleva, N.; Technical University Munich; How dangerous is microplastic?  https://phys.org/news/2019-01-dangerous-microplastic.html

13. The microbead-free waters act: FAQs; U.S. FDA (2020)

14. Leavy-Roach, S., et al.; Heavy metals in bottled natural spring water; J. Environ. Health; June; 73(10):8-13 (2011)

15. Amato-Lourenco, L.F., et al.; Microplastics in the olfactory bulb of the human brain; Environ. Health; JAMA Open; 7(9):e2440018 (2024)

16. Campen, M., et al.; Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains assessed by pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4873-0454 (2024)

17. Zhang, Y., et al.; Atmospheric microplastics: A review on current status and perspectives; Earth-Sci. Rev.; 203:103118 (2020)

18. Amelineau, F.;  Microplastic pollution in the Greenland sea: background levels and selective contamination of planktivorous diving seabirds; Environ. Pollut. Dec.; 219:1131-39 (2016)

 

 

Fluoride Filter: How to make your own

 

Appendix VI – Bone Char Filter Construction

In order to filter the maximal amount of fluoride and arsenic from tap water or Silicade, the water must be adjusted to pH 4.8 with sodium bisulfate and then filtered slowly (i.e. less than 400cc/min) through a bone char filled filter cartridge and finally brought to pH 6.5 with sodium bicarbonate prior to drinking. The flow should be bottom-to-top in order to flush most of the air out of the bone char. The least expensive and most convenient way of constructing such a filter is to purchase an Aquatic Life ion exchange cartridge filter with quarter inch polyethylene tubing from Amazon. Pour out the ion exchange resin and fill the empty filter cartridge with bone char. The filter can be held vertically with two clamps attached to a lab stand (see figure 37).  More details are given below.

 

Figure 37 – Removing fluoride and arsenic from one gallon of pH 4.8 tap water or Silicade being syphoned through a bone char filter in series with a gravity-fed Brita pitcher style filter

Cut the polyethylene tubing into two different lengths and attach as indicated in figure 37. Use the Brita filter and plastic insert sold with a Brita pitcher style filter to catch the water flowing out of the bone char filter. Use two, one gallon-sized plastic or glass containers. In order to maintain the syphon, one container must be placed on a shelve that is higher than the exit of the outflow tube on the bone char filter (see figure 37). The other container must be topped with the Brita filter and be low enough to catch the outflow of the bone char filter. Start the syphon by sucking on the outflow tube on the bone char filter until water begins to flow. 

How to Prepare and Refill the Bone Char Filter

1.      Remove the threaded end-cap from the Aqua Life filter cartridge and if new, pour out the resin for disposal or if used, pour out the spent bone char for disposal while retaining the o-ring, plastic disk, and two particle filters (i.e. top and bottom particle filters).

2.      Rinse the empty filter cartridge and refill it with first the bottom particle filter and then the bone char until the top particle filter sets gently on the bone char and the plastic disk on top is flush with the top of the cartridge.

3.      Slide the o-ring on just above the cartridge threads and screw on the top cap being careful to not cross threads.

4.      Prepare pH 4.8 tap water or Silcade with sodium bisulfate microprills from Loud Wolf sold by Amazon.  Use a temperature compensated pH meter ($10-$20 from Amazon) and a set of Norpro measuring spoons, including “dash” and “drop”. Try starting with one level “dash” of sodium bisulfate with stirring per gallon and, if insufficient to lower to pH to 4.8, try adding one level “drop” of sodium bisulfate with stirring at a time.

5.      Syphon one gallon of pH 4.8 tap water or Silicade through the filter flushing the filter and then leave the filter filled with the pH 4.8 tap water or Silicade to soak the bone char for three days prior to use as a fluoride and arsenic filter. 

Bone Char Filter Performance

This bone char filter will remove 72% of fluoride from 50 gallons of tap water or Silicade containing 0.5ppm fluoride resulting in tap water or Silicade with only 0.14ppm of fluoride. With distilled water containing 1 ppm fluoride, 100% and 92% of the fluoride is removed after 25 and 50 gallons of tap water has been filtered, respectively. The fluoride capacity of this filter is 200mcg of fluoride per gram of bone char in tap water or Silicade.

After filtering 50 gallons of tap water or Silicade the bone char must be refilled. After filtering 75 gallons of tap water or Silicade, the bone char filter only removed 21% of the fluoride⁵⁹⁵.

This bone char filter will also remove approximately 60% of arsenic reducing arsenic levels to below 10mcg/liter (10ppb)⁶⁰³ the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of arsenic in drinking water in the U.S.   

Details on Components of Bone Char Filter

·         Bone char 20x60 mesh size can purchased in 6, 10, 25 and 50 lb. amounts from Charcoal House in Crawford, NE.  6 lbs. sells for $49.39 plus $20 shipping in a gallon jar SKU C-541. Density of this bone char is 1.089gr/cc and is $7.90 for a refill of this bone char filter. Call Charcoal House at 308-665-1566 as it is not available online.

·         Aquatic Life DI color changing mixed bed filter cartridge 2x2x12 inches with ¼” tubing fittings and 284cc internal volume (1.625” dia, x 8.375” = 17.36 cubic inches) for holding approximately 309grams (0.68 lbs.) of bone char. The cartridge can be purchased from Amazon for approximately $20 and it will be shipped free by Premium Aquatics. After receiving filter, empty and refill with bone char.

·         Polyethylene tubing ¼ inch NSF certified for food use from PureSec/CCK 100 feet sold by Amazon  for approximately $20.

·         Cast iron ring stand with acid resistant finish from American Educational Products sold by Amazon for approximately $20.

·         Two 3-prong lab clamps finger style from OESS sold by Amazon $13.45 each

Optional Suppliers of Bone Char

·         Bone char 20x60 mesh size made at 800^oC can be purchased in bulk from Ebonex Corporation in Melvindale, MI, U.S.A. 313-388-0060 Cost per pound is $3.95 for the minimum order of a 50lb. bag not including UPS shipping (for a list of international distributors see: http://www.Ebonex.com)

·         Bone char 20x60 mesh size (e.g. 0.010” to 0.033”) can be purchased online by the pound at Highwater Filters for $16/lb. (Kosher/ANSI 61 Certified). Highwater Filters is in Colville, WA at 509-685-0933 Highwater Filters purchase their bone char from the Charcoal House. https://www.highwaterfilters.com/products/1-lb-bone-char-gac-20x60-mesh