ICP-MS Lab Results · Eurofins Analytical · 2025
We Tested Two Potatoes for $160.
Lead Safe Mama Is Crowdfunding $1,000 for the Same Test.
Skin vs. inside. Five heavy metals. Real Eurofins lab reports. Here's what we found, and what it tells you about the difference between a $160 ICP-MS test and a $1,000 XRF scan.
Tested by Eric Ritter
Lab: Eurofins Analytical
Method: ICP-MS (AOAC 2013.06)
Completed: Jul 3, 2025
DetectLead, What We Paid
$160
2 Eurofins ICP-MS tests × $80 each. Includes all five heavy metals: lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, mercury. Results in ~1 week. Full chain of custody. Signed by Analytical Services Manager.
Lead Safe Mama, Active Fundraiser
$1,000
Crowdfunding goal to test one potato (skin on vs. skin off) via XRF handheld scanner. XRF is optimized for paint and ceramics, its food matrix accuracy is limited. Surface scan only.
The Results
We submitted two samples to Eurofins Central Analytical Laboratories: one peeled potato (inside flesh only) and one scraped potato skin. Both went to the same lab, same method, reported on the same day.
⚠ The Cadmium Finding Is the Real Story
Peeling your potato removes lead and arsenic almost entirely, both were below detection in the flesh. But cadmium was 92.9 ppb inside the potato, compared to 114.9 ppb in the skin. A 19% difference. Cadmium is taken up by the plant's vascular system and distributed throughout the tissue, it doesn't stay at the soil interface. Peeling doesn't protect you from cadmium. You'd need to know the cadmium content of your soil and choose your potato source accordingly.
The Items
Two potatoes, same store, same day. One sample was the scraped outer skin, one was the peeled inner flesh. Each submitted separately to Eurofins as labeled samples.
The Actual Lab Reports
These are not XRF scans interpreted visually. These are Eurofins Analytical reports, a global network of accredited analytical laboratories. Method: QA21R (Heavy Metals As, Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr, Low LOQ), reference AOAC 2013.06. The sample was acid-digested and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results signed by Dana Walkenhorst, Analytical Services Manager.
Why ICP-MS Costs $80 and Works Better Than XRF for Food
ICP-MS (What We Used)
Price per test~$80
Sample prepAcid digestion, full homogenate
Detection limit<2 µg/kg (sub-ppb)
Food matrix accuracyHigh, measures dissolved metals
Metals reported5+ simultaneously
Chain of custodyFull, signed report
XRF (Lead Safe Mama's Method)
Price per test$500–$1,000+ (incl. equipment)
Sample prepSurface scan only, no digestion
Detection limit~10–50 ppm for solids; poor for soft food
Food matrix accuracyLimited, designed for paint/ceramics
Metals reportedVaries, interference-prone in food
Chain of custodyNone, operator-interpreted
XRF is a powerful tool for what it was built for: detecting lead paint on surfaces, glazed ceramics, metal alloys. FluoroSpec uses fluorescence chemistry · The database treats a single scan as a verdict on a brand. The cream cheese I tested came back 125 ppb on one purchase and nondetect on the next, same brand, different lot. Neither result is wrong. Both are real. The concept of "this brand passes" doesn't map onto how the global food supply chain actually works.
What a single food test can and can't tell you
Can tell you: What was in this specific sample, from this specific lot, on this specific date.
Cannot tell you: Whether the same brand is always at that level. Whether your specific purchase is at that level. Whether any safety threshold is being violated routinely or only sometimes.
The FDA's Total Diet Study addresses this by purchasing products multiple times, from multiple locations, over multiple years, building a statistical distribution rather than a point estimate. That's the difference between science and a data point.
Why We're Publishing This
We spent $160 on two Eurofins ICP-MS tests because we wanted to know the answer, not because we wanted to fundraise to find it. The results are published here openly, the lab reports are shown in full, and the methodology is documented. Anyone can replicate this test, Eurofins accepts public submissions and the turnaround is about a week.
We're not saying Lead Safe Mama's work is worthless. The idea of publishing food test data publicly is genuinely valuable and Tamara Rubin has done more to raise awareness of lead in consumer products than almost anyone. But the methodology matters. A $1,000 XRF scan of a potato is not more rigorous than a $160 ICP-MS test, it's less rigorous, for six times the cost. And the data infrastructure being built around single-sample XRF results is creating false certainty about things that are genuinely uncertain.
The interesting question isn't "what's in this potato." It's: how do we build a testing methodology that actually tells us something actionable about the food supply? The FDA Total Diet Study is the model. Repeated sampling, documented lots, statistical distributions. Not one scan, one posting, one "safe" or "not safe" verdict.
We tested the potatoes. The cadmium is in the flesh regardless of whether you peel it. The lead is in the skin. Now you know. Cost: $160.
Test Your Own Food, $80 Per Item
Eurofins accepts public sample submissions. Full ICP-MS heavy metals panel. Lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, mercury. Zip your sample in a bag, fill out a form, mail it. Results in ~7 days. No fundraiser required.
Related Reading
Parts Per Billion Is Not a Dose %E2%80%94 Why the number on the label doesn't tell you what you're actually ingesting · AB 899 Reanalysis, Baby food heavy metals data, reinterpreted as dose
Cadmium in Baby Food %E2%80%94 The 25-Year Problem Nobody Talks About · The Full Food Audit, All 65+ items tested, with ICP-MS results
