Certificate of Analysis: Heiltropfen Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate

2023-02-23 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: certificate of analysis, chloride, electrolytes, health, magnesium, nutrition

re: Certificate of Analysis

Heiltropfen Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate

As per my advice to never ingest a supplement without verifying its quality via a Certificate of Analysis, I looked into Heiltropfen Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate Pharmaceutical Grade @AMAZON but at the time I did so (a year ago), I did not know how to interpret it—but I do now.

Since then, the offering has gone unavailable as I write this, direct link @AMAZON. Perhaps it is being reformulated because of excessive lead levels? Maybe, maybe not.

Datasheet is not a Certificate of Analysis

UPDATE: I received a Certificate of Analysis from Heiltropfen and things are updated below.

Back then, Heiltropfen responded with a datasheet for Heiltropfen Lab Magnesium Hexahydrate @AMAZON. A datasheet is NOT an independent lab test; it is only a specification.

The product is supposed to not exceed the specifications, but lacking a Certificate of Analysis, the actual content of the product could better (likely), but could also be worse. And unless each and every batch is tested, who can say?

Only a COA is satisfactory to me, and it must show satisfactory results as well. Lack of a COA should tell you to move on in favor or something else with ultra-low heavy metals.

Analysis as per specifications (datasheet)

See the analysis as per the COA, further below. This analysis still applies in some sense, since Heiltropfen is guaranteeing only the specification amounts.

Taking the specifications as stated, the lead content is 2 ppm, or 2 micrograms. Since a serving size is 1.650 mg for 197mg elemental magnesium, the lead content is a whopping 3.3 mcg per serving, which Heiltropfen Labs itself confirms 2023-02-21:

The serving size is 1.65 g, which means that the lead content per dose is 3.3 micrograms (3300 nanograms). 2ppm is only the usual upper limit, but the manufacturer guarantee is not more than that, but in reality it is less. Kind regards Your Heiltropfen Lab. LLP team

The lead content of a single serving of this product is unacceptably high at 4X the California limit of 0.5 mcg for pregnant/lactating women for just a single serving. It’s even high in the context of the 15 mcg per day maximum intake for adults.

Normalizing that 197mg elemental Mg to the 210mg elemental Mg of the Nutricost product, the equivalent lead content is 3.3 * 210/197 = 3.52 mcg. Versus 0.0109 mcg — 322X higher. 

Even if we cut the lead content by a factor of 4X, this is still 80X higher—unacceptable.

I would typically take 3-4 servings and in liquid form, giving me a toxic dose of 10 to 13 mcg lead just from this supplementation. The daily lead intake limit stated by EPA and California is 15 mcg. Add in other sources (food) and it’s not exactly a smart move. The foregoing is no proof, but that could explain my high blood lead level and possible slow lead poisoning by supplementation of magnesium.

Specifications for Heiltropfen Lab Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate

Analysis as per Certificate of Analysis

This comparison equalizes the single-dose amount of elemental magnesium serving size at 210mg.

DoubleWood: 0.146 mcg lead per 210mg elemental Mg (0.1 mcg per 144mg Mg)
     Nutricost: 0.0109 mcg lead per 210mg elemental Mg
 Heiltropfen: 1.066 mcg lead per 210mg elemental Mg

The Heliotropfen COA is problematic in not giving precise figures but only cutoff figures (less than amount). The analysis here uses that cutoff value. Also, it appears to be an in-house certificate, not an independent lab, and there are no signatures on it—not saying its false but its credibility is marginal.

What “Heavy metals (as Pb)” means is unclear. But at 5 ppm (5 mcg) it does not sound good.

The lead content of 1.066 mcg for 210mg elemental magnesium is unacceptably high at twice the California recommendation of 0.5 mcg for pregnant/lactating women. An appropriate adult dose would be 2 servings or 2.1 mcg lead which is unnecessarily high in the context of the 15 mcg per day recommended maximum intake for adults.

I would typically take 3 servings (~600mg element), giving me a dose of 3.2 mcg lead just from this supplementation. Add in other sources (food, environment) and it’s a Bad Idea. Moreover the lead is in liquid form and likely to be absorbed. It might help explain at least part of my high blood lead level resulting in slow lead poisoning by supplementation of magnesium.

Certificate of Analysis for Heiltropfen Lab Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate