Question from Diane

Just purchased (on line) 3 tubes of Redmond Earth Paste Natural Toothpaste (peppermint, wintergreen and cinnamon flavors). Package states “no glycerin, no fluoride, from the Earth, no artificial coloring, no foaming agents”. Ingredients: purified water, food grade Redmond clay, xylitol, (peppermint essential oil/wintergreen essential oil, menthol/cinnamon essential oil – depending on the flavor), Redmond real salt, tea tree oil. In fine print it states “California residents proposition 65 – WARNING: this product contains trace amounts of lead, a substance known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. This product may not be appropriate for consumption by children or pregnant women.” As I understand this proposition 65 warning label appears on a lot of items. The fact that it contains lead even though it is trace amounts concerns me; would you consider this toothpaste to be safe for adults who are not pregnant and since I highly value your opinion, would you yourself use it?

Debra’s Answer

I myself do use this toothpaste. As a whole, it has the simplest, most natural ingredients.

Warning labels aren’t always accurate indicators of toxicity. There are some products that really don’t need a warning label and others that really should have a warning label and don’t. We really need to evaluate each product for ourselves.

Now first, there is no safe level for lead so we should do whatever we can to minimize exposure. But the reality is you probably eat more lead in organic food because it’s a natural element of the Earth’s crust. And humans have been living and thriving with that trace amount for millennia.

The problem isn’t trace amounts of lead in natural materials. The problem is industrialized lead in paint chips that kids put in their mouths, and lead in car exhaust, etc. These industrial uses of lead are more than our bodies are designed to be exposed to.

I sent your question to Darryl Bosshardt at Real Salt (who makes Earthpaste). And as I expected, he sent back a long and detailed response, full of good information.

The ingredient that contains the lead is bentonite clay. Here’s what he says about it…

Hi Debra

Bentonite Clay has been used by natural folks for 1,000s of years with great results, but recently clay has been under a bit of attack because there are some natural trace amounts of lead and other metals.

Most clay experts agree that the trace amounts of these metals are bound to the clay and cannot be absorb by the body, which is why healing clays are used both internally and externally for numerous things for 1,000’s of years, even though there are trace amounts of these metals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_clay.

Below is a little longer explanation that you can also draw from if you are interested.

We realize that some will choose not to use clay or clay based products because of the natural state of clay and its trace amounts of metals, and we totally respect that, but after looking into clay the science and history of clay use many agree with the clay authors and naturopaths who say that these metals are not bioavailable.

Bentonite/Montmorillonite clay is the base product of Earthpaste and is about 25% of the formula. All natural Bentonite/Montmorillonite clays have natural trace amounts of many elements (http://www.earthpaste.com/elemental-analysis/ one of which is lead and other metals and minerals.

Any clay actually will have trace amounts of lead (as will collard greens, kale, mixed nuts and almost anything from the ground or grown in the ground) which is why we added the lead statement to our package. Other companies are doing the same thing and here are some examples. In the Garden of Life, Sunwarrior and Ridge Crest Herbals explanations they talk specifically about things like green beans and Echinacea which some find helpful.

• www.naturalgrocers.com/store-info/blog/garden-life-responds-bloggers-concerns-about-heavy-metals
• www.sunwarrior.com/notices/
• www.rcherbals.com/prop65/
• www.mountainroseherbs.com/prop65/

For those that don’t know, according the to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lead occurs naturally in uncontaminated soils at a level of between 50 ppm and 400 ppm (www.epa.gov/superfund/lead/health.htm) because lead is one of the elements that the Earth is made of. As long as we live on Earth there will be trace amounts of lead that we are exposed to because it is one of the many elements that make up the Earth we live on. This doesn’t mean we should not try to limit our exposure to processed/refined lead and lead contaminated soils. Contaminated soils such as those around power plants, gas stations, or other industrial waste areas are much higher than those natural levels found everywhere on Earth at the 50-400 ppm level. For comparison, Redmond Clay naturally has around 12 ppm on the recent analysis which you can see is a fraction of the typical amount in “uncontaminated soils” and is just part of the natural earth the way it was created.

For a true comparison we also need to convert ppm or ppb to micrograms in the foods and water we are consuming. In reference to the naturally occurring in lead in foods grown in uncontaminated soils, according to the FDA 2007 study of lead in foods it found that an 8 oz serving of fresh collard greens has up to 30 micrograms of lead (50 times the prop 65 limit) – for comparison an average use of Earthpaste would have about 6 micrograms assuming you consumed the entire amount. An 8 oz serving of dry roasted mix nuts had up to 20 mcg and similar servings of brussel sprouts was 16 mcg, spinach and sweet potatoes were about 15 mcg for the same 8 oz servings size. www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodSafety/FoodContaminants
Adulteration/TotalDietStudy/UCM243059.pdf

It is also important to note that all elements are not bio-available in all forms and that the FDA’s statement of the GRAS status of clay says this, “Apparently, very little, if any, bentonite is absorbed after oral administration and as much as 3 percent in the diet has no observable adverse effects on experimental animals.” The statement also says, “No adverse effects have been observed at dietary levels as high as 12 percent in experimental animals.” And says, “The human therapeutic dose for diarrhea is about 250 to 1,000 mg per kg.”

www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/fcn/fcnDetailNavigation.cfm?rpt=scogslisting
&id=35

That would mean that 3 – 12 pounds of clay could theoretically be consumed for every 100 lbs of food. That would be a serious amount of clay and an amount that no one would ever recommend, but it does show that the metals in clay are not absorbable. This is why the right type of clay has such a following, is used throughout the world, and has even been studied by NASA for astronaut use – although still not widely accepted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_clay

Many of the books on clay and most naturopaths agree that these other minerals in clay are in a form that the body can’t absorb and are not bioavailable – this is what the FDA statement also says in the section I included above.

Another favorite quote on this topic comes from Dr. Richard Anderson who is (was) a naturopathic practitioner. Being a natural doctor he probably understands the medical/chemistry aspects of clay better than some. Here is a short section from his cleansing site.

“Today, Bentonite clay is increasingly used both internally and externally by those interested in natural remedies, and it is included on the FDA’s famous “GRAS” list, which stands for “Generally Recognized as Safe.” With increasing public knowledge about minerals, some have expressed concern over the presence of small amounts of aluminum in bentonite clay.

However, Rich Anderson himself, and numerous others who have used Bentonite clay extensively with his cleanse program, have had hair analyses done which indicated that the body does not absorb aluminum from Bentonite. [ . . . ] Some people are concerned about the aluminum in bentonite. Yes, it does have aluminum. For aluminum is one of the most abundant minerals on the earth. However, if you recall the above paragraph where it states that bentonite has a negative electrical charge, you will realize that bentonite cannot be absorbed by the body. The epithelium cells of the gut are also negatively charged. Like the polar opposites of two magnets repelling one another, the cells of our bowels absolutely repel the bentonite from entering the inner sanctum of our bodies. This means that you never need to be concerned about taking psyllium shakes. Rich Anderson has probably set the world’s record in the consuming of bentonite. Not only has he no signs of aluminum poisoning, but also hair analysis has never indicated any abnormal levels of aluminum in his body. And does he still use bentonite? Absolutely. [ . . . ] Why are the toxic metals in the minerals in bentonite not a problem (like chlorine, arsenic, aluminum, and lead.) A: These minerals are in small, trace amounts and organic in nature. They are not toxic in this medium. They are derived from ancient vegetation and are naturally chelated to plant proteins. Organic aluminum actually transmutes into silica and then into calcium according to Professor Louis Kervran. This is explained in his book “Biological Transmutations and Modern Physics” on page 157. (Magalia, California: Happiness Press, 1988.)” www.cleanse.net/hydratedbentoniteclay.html

An elemental compound that occurs naturally in nature is not necessarily the same thing as the highly processed, refined, purified element – and the body deals with these types or forms of elements differently. Pure metallic Sodium or pure Chlorine gas are good examples of this. The apparent difference in bioavailability is why most clay users agree with the clay authors, naturopaths and the FDA as mentioned above. Leaded gasoline and lead-based paint are very different than the naturally occurring trace amount of lead in organic kale, peach, pears or clay. That said, some decide not to use clay or clay based products because of its natural state and its natural levels of so many elements including metals – and we respect that as well.

Sorry for the long answer and hopefully this helps add to the discussion. We are working to improve our website to better explain clay and why some choose to incorporate clay into their lifestyle and others choose not to.

Listen to Darryl talk with me about Earthpaste at Amazingly Natural Toothpaste (It Really Is!)

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