Heavy metals testing · Worldwide collection · Helsinki
Does your product exceed the legal limit for heavy metals?
Send us your sample, we do the rest: worldwide collection, customs handled, Pb, Cd, Hg and As — plus Ni for juices — measured in an accredited EU laboratory, and the report delivered — for one all-inclusive price.
Who this is for
Too small for the established testing houses?
The service is open to everyone — companies of any size, institutions, private individuals. It is especially suited to small producers, micro-brands and importers: anyone with a product on a shelf and no accreditation department behind them.
The established testing houses
Serve companies.
Add order fees and quote on request.
Return a bare number, for you to interpret.
This service
The measurement is performed in an accredited EU laboratory. The price is published and all-inclusive. No company is required.
Shipping and customs are handled in both directions.
The report interprets the result against the named limit row, not a bare number.
How it works
Start by filling in the form below.
We confirm the product category, the EU limit that applies to it, and the quantity to send, then issue a pro-forma invoice.
You pay by bank transfer.
We send the UPS label and the customs paperwork. You pack the samples and hand the parcel to UPS.
You receive an interpreted report. Turnaround is 10–15 working days at the laboratory, plus transit.
Shipping and customs
Wherever you are, the paperwork is ours.
We collect from anywhere UPS operates. Chile, Taiwan, New Zealand, Canada — distance is rarely the obstacle; paperwork is. Export declarations, commercial invoices, HS codes, customs clearance: we prepare all of it and send it to you with the label.
You print the label, pack the sealed units, and hand the box over at your nearest UPS point. Nothing else.
How many units to send, and where in the batch they should come from, goes out with your shipping instructions.
The one exception: countries under EU sanctions or export restrictions.
Packages
Which question do you need answered?
Maximum levels per Regulation (EU) 2023/915 as currently in force; we check the consolidated text before each report.
Does this supplement exceed the legal limit for heavy metals?
Maximum levels
Pb 3.0 · Cd 1.0 · Hg 0.10 mg/kg
Cd 3.0 mg/kg where the supplement consists of at least 80% dried seaweed, seaweed-derived products or dried bivalve molluscs — tell us at order and we apply that row. Arsenic has no maximum level for supplements as such and is included at no extra cost. We analyse the whole capsule, shell included, unless you tell us otherwise with the shipment.
A clean metals result is not full compliance for a supplement: pyrrolizidine alkaloids, PAH4 and citrinin have their own maximum levels and are not covered by this test. Where a supplement is made from rice, algae, seaweed or seafood, the arsenic limit attaches to that ingredient, not to the supplement category, and applies to the inorganic fraction. A total-arsenic figure below the limit settles the question; a figure above it does not, and needs speciation — contact us and we will advise on the options for your case.
Is the lead in this turmeric, paprika or herbal powder above the EU limit?
Pb maximum levels by spice type — mg/kg
Whole spices are milled by the laboratory. The full four-element panel is run regardless of type: lead is the element with a maximum level for spices, while cadmium, mercury and arsenic are reported for information — the EU sets no limit for them in this category.
Dried herbs and botanical powders that are not spices have no lead maximum level of their own. We report the figures and tell you what they can and cannot be judged against; if the material is destined for a supplement, the supplement limits apply instead. This test covers metals only: ethylene oxide and pesticide residues are not included.
Is the lead in this bottle within the EU limit?
Maximum levels
Pb 0.10 mg/kg from the 2022 harvest · 0.15 for 2016–2021 · 0.20 for 2001–2015
Wine, cider, perry and fruit wine, and aromatised wine products: 0.10 mg/kg from the 2022 harvest onwards · 0.15 for the 2016–2021 harvests · 0.20 for 2001–2015. Liqueur wine made from grapes: 0.15 from the 2022 harvest onwards. Tell us the vintage and we apply the right row. Sparkling and semi-sparkling wines fall under the same row as still wine; for wine of 15% vol or more, and for fortified wines generally, tell us what it is and we will say which row applies, if any.
Beer and spirits have no lead maximum level and are reported against the reference framework, stated as such. Cadmium, mercury and arsenic have no maximum level in these categories and are reported for information. Send one sealed retail unit, unopened. The laboratory reports in mg/kg; for these products that figure is equivalent to mg/L within measurement uncertainty.
Is this juice within the EU limits for lead, arsenic and nickel?
Maximum levels
Pb 0.03 · berries 0.05 · iAs 0.020 · Ni 0.25 mg/kg
The nickel levels apply from 1 July 2025. Lead 0.05 mg/kg where the juice is made exclusively from berries and other small fruits, 0.03 mg/kg for all others including mixtures. Inorganic arsenic 0.020 mg/kg. Nickel 0.25 mg/kg, or 1.0 mg/kg for passion fruit, cocoa fruit, small fruits and berries, and coconut water. For concentrates the level applies to the reconstituted juice — tell us the dilution at order.
Vegetable juices have a maximum level for nickel only; cadmium and mercury have none for any juice or nectar — those elements are reported for information. The arsenic level is set for the inorganic fraction: a total-arsenic figure below 0.020 mg/kg settles the question; a figure above it does not, and needs speciation — contact us and we will advise on the options for your case. Send one sealed retail unit, unopened.
Method
What happens in the laboratory?
Pricing
What does it cost?
Every price includes
Collection and customs, in both directions.
Digestion, milling and analysis.
An interpreted report against the named limit row.
Handling & shipping, charged once per shipment, however many samples it contains: EUR 80 EU/EEA · EUR 150 rest of world.
The published price is all-inclusive: analysis, shipping in both directions, customs handling and the interpreted report. Nothing is added at any stage. VAT applies as set out below. If we cannot run your sample, the analysis price is refunded; the shipping fee is spent by then.
| Package | Analysis per sample | Each further sample, same shipment |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy Metals — Supplements | EUR 290 | EUR 290 — no further fee |
| Heavy Metals — Spices & Botanicals | EUR 290 | EUR 290 — no further fee |
| Heavy Metals — Wine, Beer, Cider, Spirits | EUR 290 | EUR 290 — no further fee |
| Heavy Metals — Juices & Nectars (incl. Ni) | EUR 365 | EUR 365 — no further fee |
One sample, all in: EUR 370 EU/EEA · EUR 440 rest of world — juices EUR 445 / EUR 515. Multi-sample shipments are charged the fee once, so each further sample is the analysis price only.
Sample needed — as a guide
Supplements — typically 100–200 g. For capsules, two to three retail packs usually reach this; for powders, one retail tub.
Spices & botanicals — typically 100–200 g.
Wine, beer, cider, spirits, juices & nectars — one sealed retail unit, unopened. A standard bottle or can is enough; for very small formats we may ask for a second unit.
These quantities are indicative; the exact amount is confirmed with your quotation, before anything ships. For further details, please contact us.
VAT
EU businesses with a valid, VIES-verifiable VAT number — reverse charge, 0% VAT.
Finnish customers and EU consumers — VAT added at 25.5%.
Customers outside the EU — no VAT.
Invoicing and payment
Paying us costs you nothing extra.
We confirm your category and quantity, then send a pro-forma invoice. Payment is an ordinary bank transfer, in your own currency — no checkout, no card, no account.
Pay in your own currency
EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, SEK, NOK, DKK, CAD, AUD, NZD, JPY and other major currencies. Tell us which one on the form. If you do not, we invoice in EUR.
A local transfer, not an international wire
For most major currencies we hold local account details, so your payment leaves your bank as a domestic transfer. No correspondent-bank charges, no card processor, no surcharge on your invoice.
Purchase orders accepted
Send us your PO reference and we raise the pro-forma invoice against it. Nothing to register, no account to create.
Analysis is supplied against payment in advance; we issue no shipping label before payment has cleared. Prices are held for 30 days from the date of the pro-forma invoice, at the exchange rate fixed on that invoice. All prices exclude VAT and are applied as set out above.
The report
What you receive
The concentration of each element, in mg/kg and per unit where relevant.
The applicable maximum level, with the regulation row named.
The result stated as pass or exceedance, in words.
Measurement uncertainty, always included.
Method, reporting limits and the accreditation status of the measuring laboratory.
Customers outside the EU receive the same report; it names the reference framework it measures against.
Outside the EU
Reading this report outside the EU
The measurement travels. The determinations are performed in an EU laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, and through the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement such results are recognised by the accreditation bodies of around one hundred economies. Wherever you sell, the report is an internationally recognised validation document for your product; the verdict it states is against the EU maximum levels, named as the reference framework.
Selling in a market that sets limits per daily dose — the United States, Canada, Australia? The conversion starts from the numbers in the report: concentration (mg/kg) × your declared daily dose = daily intake, compared with the µg/day limit that applies to you. State your declared daily dose on the form and the report includes the calculated daily intake beside each concentration.
One case needs naming: for fruit juices the EU arsenic limit applies to the inorganic fraction, while the standard package measures total arsenic. A total below the limit settles the question — the inorganic fraction can never exceed the total. A total at or above it needs speciation for a verdict; contact us and we will advise on the options for your case.
What we cannot accept
Nothing unlawful.
No raw or unprocessed material of animal origin — blood, serum, tissue, meat, fish, milk, eggs, biological fluids. Processed manufactured components, such as gelatin capsule shells, remain in scope.
The sample is consumed by the analysis and is not returned.
If you are unsure whether your product qualifies, ask before shipping.
Confidentiality
Everything you send is used for your analysis and for nothing else — never shared, never sold. At the laboratory your sample is identified by an internal reference only, never by your name. Records are held in confidence and deleted once no longer needed.
Request testing
Ready to send a sample?
Complete the form. We confirm the product category and the applicable limit row, tell you how many units to send, and reply with a pro-forma invoice — usually within one working day. Nothing is charged now.
EU VAT FI34319116 · UK VAT GB506831791 · Helsinki, Finland
Further reading
EU maximum levels for heavy metals: supplements, spices, beverages
The rows of Regulation (EU) 2023/915 set out matrix by matrix, with the reporting limits an analysis has to reach for the result to mean anything — including ours, published so they can be checked against what the regulation requires.
More in Analysis Notes.