Heavy Metals Check

Measures four toxic metals in your blood, which reflects recent exposure rather than what has built up in your body over the years.

Blood is where recent exposure shows. Lead reflects roughly the past month and comes from old paint, old plumbing, soil and some imported spices and cookware. Mercury in blood is mostly the methylmercury from fish, and it climbs in people who eat tuna, swordfish or sushi several times a week. Arsenic comes from well water and rice, cadmium from cigarettes and from shellfish and leafy crops grown on contaminated soil. If you have been renovating an old house, shooting at an indoor range, working with solder or eating a lot of large fish, this is the draw that tells you whether any of it is getting in. Skip fish and shellfish for 48 hours before the draw so a recent meal does not read as a chronic problem. Hair analysis sold by supplement companies is not a substitute.

Blood is drawn at a Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp or BioReference patient service center. Price by laboratory: Quest Diagnostics $79, Labcorp $103 or BioReference $134. Your price depends on your state and the laboratories near you. Enter your ZIP code to see them.

What’s included

• Lead, blood: Lead, a heavy metal, in blood drawn from a vein.
• Mercury, blood: Mercury, a heavy metal, in whole blood.
• Arsenic, blood: Arsenic, a toxic element, in whole blood.
• Cadmium, blood: Cadmium, a heavy metal, in whole blood.

Tests you can add

• Urinalysis: A urine sample checked for concentration, pH, protein, glucose, ketones, blood, bilirubin, nitrite and white cells, with a microscopic check.

Before your draw

No fasting needed.

Avoid fish and shellfish for 48 hours before your draw, since they can raise blood mercury and arsenic. Don't stop your usual medicines unless your clinician tells you to.