Published on
Bar chart of lead in six salts compared with the Australian limit of 2 mg/kg. Selina Celtic Fine Ground had the most at 0.553, then Redmond at 0.252 and Pink Himalayan at 0.015 to 0.18. Lead in Maldon was too low to measure, Diamond Crystal had none detected, and Lake Deborah had none detected below 0.1. All six are well under the limit. Alt text for the arsenic chart: Bar chart of arsenic in five salts compared with the Australian and international limit of 500 ppb. Selina Celtic Fine Ground had 82.2 ppb, Redmond 36.1 and Maldon 12.8, and Diamond Crystal had none detected. Lake Deborah's result is unknown because its test can't detect arsenic below 500 ppb. All the salts with a measured result sit well under the limit.

For years, a bag of Celtic Sea Salt had pride of place in my pantry.  I loved it and trusted it.  Grey, damp and mineral-rich, it felt like the most natural choice.  Then I started reading the lab results.

What the testing found – Lead

US consumer site Mamavation has had dozens of salts tested by an EPA-certified laboratory since late 2023, with the latest results added in May 2026.


To keep it simple, here's how far under the Australian food standard limit for lead in salt some well-known salts came in, based on Mamavation's figures:

  • Celtic Sea Salt (Selina Naturally Fine Ground):  about 72% under the limit
  • Redmond Real Salt:  about 87% under
  • Pink Himalayan salts:  about 91 to 99% under, across the brands tested
  • Maldon Sea Salt Flakes and Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt:  too low to measure


So my beloved Celtic salt had the most lead of this group, even though it's still under the limit.  It's worth knowing that the European Union allows only half as much lead in most salt as Australia does.


What the testing found – Arsenic

Mamavation also tested for arsenic, and found it in most of the salts it tested.  Here's what it reported, in parts per billion (ppb):

  • Celtic Sea Salt:  82.2 ppb
  • Redmond Real Salt:  36.1 ppb
  • Maldon Sea Salt Flakes:  12.8 ppb
  • Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt:  not detected


All four sit well under the Australian limit for arsenic in salt, which is 500 ppb.  Mercury wasn't detected in any of these four.


A fair caveat:  these are one-off spot-checks rather than repeated testing of each product.  The Celtic, Redmond, Maldon and Diamond Crystal results come from Mamavation's original round of testing, so they may have changed since.


What about Lake Deborah?

Lake Deborah is a local Western Australian salt lake, about 500 km north-east of Perth.  They publish specification sheets on their website (lakedeborah.com.au/spec-sheets), and these list lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury as "none detected".  The small print matters, though:  "none detected" depends on how sensitive the test is, and their tests aren't as fine-grained as Mamavation's, so the two can't be compared directly.  Their Grill Salt sheet gives the detection limits:  100 ppb for lead, and 500 ppb for arsenic, which is the legal limit itself.  So for arsenic, "none detected" tells us it's under the limit, but not how far under.  The sheets currently on their website are dated September 2026, and like any test results, they can change over time.


The aluminium question

Many everyday table salts contain an anti-caking agent to stop them clumping.  Australia's best-known brand, Saxa table salt, lists "anti-caking agent (554)" on its label.  554 is sodium aluminosilicate, which contains aluminium.


When the European Food Safety Authority reviewed 554 in 2020, it said it couldn't assess its safety without more data.  In the EU, 554 is only allowed in salt that's used to treat the surface of ripened cheese.  So if you'd rather avoid it, check the ingredients list for "554".


Aluminium can also turn up naturally.  Mamavation found it in Redmond Real Salt (229 ppm) and Celtic Sea Salt (171 ppm), while Maldon and Diamond Crystal had none detected.


We contacted WA Salt (suppliers of Lake Deborah salt) and asked them about aluminium too.  They told us no aluminium was detected at the available detection limits, and that they don't use aluminium-based anti-caking agents.


The Celtic Sea Salt class action

In 2025, someone launched a class action in California alleging high lead and arsenic levels in Celtic Sea Salt, but it was voluntarily dropped in April 2025, before any ruling.


Keeping it in proportion

Before anyone bins their salt grinder:  every salt above sits under the Australian limits.  So why bother?  Because the World Health Organization says:  "There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects."  Lead builds up in the body over time, and harm has been found even at very low levels.  Young children are the most vulnerable.  The WHO says they may absorb up to 4 to 5 times as much lead as adults, and even low exposure can permanently affect brain development.  So if you've got kiddies at home, it's worth thinking about.


This isn't about panic.  It's about reducing avoidable environmental exposures where we can, especially with something we use every single day.


Why this matters more in perimenopause

As a woman in perimenopause myself, this next part caught my attention.  Our bones store the lead we've been exposed to over a lifetime.  As oestrogen falls and bone turnover rises around menopause, some of that stored lead can be released back into the bloodstream.


A large US national survey (NHANES III) found that women who had been through natural menopause had blood lead levels 25 per cent higher than premenopausal women, and 30 per cent higher after surgical menopause (Nash and colleagues, 2004).  A later analysis found that postmenopausal women with the highest bone turnover had blood lead around 30 to 34 per cent higher than those with the lowest, depending on the bone marker measured (Jackson and colleagues, 2010).  If our bodies may already be dealing with an internal source, why add more where it's easy to avoid?


What we use at home

We use a lot of salt, so I mix it up.  Maldon's big flaky crystals live on the dining table as a condiment.  Diamond Crystal Kosher goes into small recipes.  And for the big jobs, we use Western Australian Lake Deborah salt, which we buy in 10 kg bags because it's so well priced.  We use the lake salt to make our chorizo (sometimes 20 kg at a time), bacon and sausages, plus my partner makes oodles of sauerkraut and other ferments from the organic vegetables we grow.


A quick word on iodine

Most unrefined salts, including Lake Deborah, Celtic and pink Himalayan, have no added iodine.  Since 2009, iodised salt has been mandatory in Australian bread (organic bread and home bread mixes are the exceptions), which helps.  But if you've moved away from iodised salt and don't eat much bread or dairy, it's worth thinking about where your iodine comes from, and having a chat with your GP if you're unsure.  Good iodine sources include seafood, seaweeds and non-organic dairy.


My takeaway

I'm not here to tell you which salt to buy.  What I can share is what I choose and why:  I swapped Celtic Sea Salt out for Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and our local WA Lake Deborah salt, all low in heavy metals, with some published testing and no added anti-caking agents.  Other salts may be under the limits, but I'm extra cautious as we have a youngster at home.  And they’re all available to buy in Australia.  We get our iodine from seafood, seaweed and dairy.  Small, informed swaps like this are exactly the kind of thing my clients and I explore together in coaching, at a pace that suits them.


So, is it time to take a closer look at what's in your salt shaker?


Sources


0 Comments

Archives