Dozens Of Popular US Baby Formula Found To Have ‘Potentially Harmful’ Levels Of Heavy Metals: Report

<p>Dozens of popular baby formula products in the US have been found to have “potentially harmful” levels of heavy metals.&nbsp;</p>
<p>American nonprofit consumer organisation, Consumer Reports tested 41 types of baby formula and found about half contained &ldquo;potentially harmful levels&rdquo; of at least one contaminant, reported The Independent.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In particular, the research found that almost all samples contained lead, and eighteen formulas contained 50 to 100 per cent of the “Maximum Allowable Dose Level&rdquo; for a three-month-old.</p>
<p>The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment sets the &ldquo;Maximum Allowable Dose Level&rdquo; which is considered &ldquo;the most protective standard available.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Twenty-one of the formulas tested had little to no detectable heavy metal which included &nbsp;Enfamil Gentleease, Similac Advance, and Kirkland Signature ProCare from Costco.</p>
<p>However, the products that were found to formula with lead levels approaching the daily limit did not accept the report. One such company, Perrigo said they &ldquo;can&rsquo;t corroborate Consumer Reports&rsquo;s findings.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Another company, ByHeart said the company&rsquo;s formula meets U.S. and E.U. safety standards, including California&rsquo;s Maximum Allowable Dose Levels.</p>
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<h2>Arsenic Found In Some Products&nbsp;</h2>
<p>Consumer Reports also tested the baby formula for several other contaminants, including arsenic, lead, BPA, acrylamide, and PFAS &mdash; also known as &ldquo;forever chemicals&rdquo;.</p>
<p>Two formulas were found to have high levels of the “most harmful” kind, the inorganic arsenic. Abbott Nutrition: EleCare Hypoallergenic formula, was tested to have 19.7 parts per billion, and Similac Alimentum, had 15.1 parts per billion.</p>
<p>As per Consumer Reports, The Environmental Protection Agency limits arsenic in municipal drinking water to 10 parts per billion.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Abbott Nutrition disputes the test results, with a spokesperson noting that the formulas &ldquo;are safe&rdquo;. The spokesperson further stated that heavy metals &ldquo;can be present in low levels in almost anything we eat or drink, including in baby food, all brands of infant formula, fruits and vegetables, and even human breast milk.&rdquo;</p>
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<h2>’Better To Have Lower Levels'</h2>
<p>While it is virtually impossible to get zero level of lead in baby formula, paediatrics professor Dr. Steven Abrams told Consumer Reports that lower levels are always better.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Still, there is &ldquo;no safe level of lead exposure,&rdquo; said University of Miami neurology professor Dr. Hannah Gardener.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Babies need to eat,&rdquo; Gardener said adding that there needs to be plenty of food and “formula choices at the lowest end of the range of contamination.”&nbsp;</p>
<p>The professor advised manufacturers “to do many things” to protect customers including rigorous and repeated testing of their products and disclosing the contamination levels to consumers.</p>