Heavy Metal Lab Results of 2 common protein powders

[dodohahn]

Hey guys,

I wanted to share you some lab results of the mercurycontent in somewhat common vegan proteinpowders. as im consuming them on a daily basis, i thought it would be a good idea to invest in something like this. i send in two samples. one is from bulk powders, a rather cheap but not bad tasting vegan proteinpowder, from a company that would not provide any lab certificate of the heavy metal testing that they had allegedly done, but would somehow „reveal supply chains“. but they assured that it its within EU-limits. The other sample i send in was from VIVO Life, one of the most expesive vegan protein powders out there, that advertises with the fact that they do heavy metal testing for all their products. you can download all their certificates although they dont provide an exact parameter but only „< X mcg/kg“. 

So here are the results:

Bulk Powder Vegan Protein Strawberry: 0.0047 mg/kg mercury

Vivo Life Acai Blueberry: 0.0017 mg/kg mercury

 

So lets say a person consumes 3 portions of 33 grams a day which is like 100 grams a day and 3kg a month and 36kg a year, which makes 155mcg in the first and 61mcg in the second example. Would this be a concern? I think were talking about anorganic mercury here, arent we? its not the same as in fish, isnt it? or is it also methylated as it is in fish? What you guys think? Greetings

[MarkKol]

+1 on this as I also consume vivo life daily

Nobody in their right mind would actually eat 100 grams of protein powder a day so It's not really going to be 61mcg. If you need protein you should consider eggs, chicken, turkey, tempeh and lentils or protein powerhouses like edamame pasta

Edited August 10, 2023 by MarkKol

[Michael569]

Who consumes 3 kilos of protein powder a month?  I can barely get through the 1 kilo of Vivo in 2 months. 

The people who do those sorts of stunts usually consume the crappiest and cheapest products (bodybuilders who drink 5 shakes a day) - and at that point things like HM is absolutely of no concern to them. 

That being said, I am not sure how clinically relevant that dose is.  Like, is this enough to actually be harmful? I'm sure if you go deep enough you'll find traces of heavy metals in everything, just from coming in contact with diesel fumes or pesticides

Also regarding your calculation, you are presuming that 100% of that is absorbed - what if you absorb like 1% of that? Dose accumulation calculation only makes sense if you are 100% sure that the volume is being retained - for example such as the case of Vitamin D supplementation. ....I don't know the answer that's why I am asking..maybe you do? 

If anyone knows more, please comment. 

Also to OP, can you share that report? 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Michael569

[undeather]

Mercury accumulated in plants are in the forms of Hg(0), Hg(II), and organic Hg. Aquatic plants contain more methyl mercury (organic Hg) than terrestrial plant. On the other hand, the mercury that accumulates in fish is predominantly organic methyl-Hg

So let's take the Bulk Powder Vegan Protein Strawberry: 0.0047 mg/kg mercury
0.0047 mg/kg = 0.0047 μg/g

As you see in the diagram above, normal vegetables sometimes contain 100 times more mercury than your protein powder. 
In some cases, like near power plants, this concentration can go over 10 μg/g. (one of the highest ever measured)
In most cases, it's wayyy lower than that of course!

The Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) of mercury suggested by The World Health Organization (WHO) is 1 μg/kg body weight.
Meaning if you weigh 70kg - that's 70μg per week. 

So you need to eat about 15kg of that protein powder per week to exceed that limit.

I am not saying this is okay by the way. We are getting polluted left and right - and that sucks! 
Tolerable intake measurements also do not take into account accumulating effects and complex interactions.

That said, I hope this puts your numbers into perspective!
 

Edited August 10, 2023 by undeather

[dodohahn]

Hey folks,

thx for your answers. I will share the results.

https://ibb.co/THjq71s
https://ibb.co/4YRZK7k

Greets