Children’s blood lead levels fell 96% without help from any detox product

Key takeaways

• The typical blood lead level in U.S. children ages 1 to 5 fell 96% from the late 1970s to 2017–2020, with the steepest drop after lead left gasoline.
• When researchers from a Canadian naturopathic college and two partner institutions tested an ionic foot bath, putting feet in the water made no meaningful difference to the toxic metals in it.
• If your home has a lead service line, the CDC advises filtering drinking and cooking water with a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead.
• Cooking rice in 6 to 10 parts water and draining it cuts inorganic arsenic by 40% to 60%, according to the FDA.
• The CDC found some traditional remedies, such as greta and azarcon, contain up to 90% lead, so testing the product matters more than trusting the tradition.

One of the biggest detoxes in American history didn’t come in a bottle.

The typical blood lead level in American children ages 1 to 5 has dropped 96% since the late 1970s, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)². The steepest part of that fall came from the 1970s to the 1990s, after lead was taken out of gasoline².

No foot bath, sauna or cleanse did that. Cutting off the source did.

Other chemicals tell the same story. Levels of PFOS, one of the long-lasting “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, fell about 90% in women of childbearing age from 1999–2000 to 2017–2020⁵. PFOS is no longer used in the United States⁵.

That is the main lesson of this article. Some toxic substances are real, and labs can measure them in your blood. The way to lower them is mostly to stop them from getting in.

“Toxin” has a precise meaning, and most products skip it

Scientists draw a line that ads rarely do. In a toxicology course for communities from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency, “toxin” usually means a poison made in nature. A “toxicant” is a toxic substance produced by human activity or as its by-product¹.

By that definition, a natural metal that industry spreads into groundwater counts as a toxicant¹. By the same logic, so does lead from old paint or pipes.

Two more terms matter. Exposure means coming into contact with a chemical. Dose is the amount that enters your body¹. ATSDR also describes a threshold dose, a level below which harmful effects aren’t seen in a population¹.

Put together, a real toxic exposure has four parts you can name: the substance, where it comes from, how it reaches you (through food, water, soil or air) and how much gets in¹. A “remove toxins” product that can’t name any of the four is selling a feeling.

Lead shows why naming matters. Lead in tap water usually comes from lead pipes, faucets and fixtures, especially in older homes⁹. You can’t scrub that out of a person, but you can keep it out of the glass.

What national testing finds in your body

Since 1999–2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has measured environmental chemicals in the blood and urine of Americans. Its National Exposure Report draws on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a federal health survey designed to represent the country³.

Each round typically tests a subsample of about 2,500 people³. The report also carries a caution that detox ads ignore: finding a chemical in your body does not, by itself, mean it is harming you³.

Here is what the long-term trends show for three chemicals.

Chemical	Who was tested	What changed	What EPA says about the source
Lead	Children ages 1–5	Median fell 96%, to 0.6 µg/dL in 2017–20202	Steepest drop after lead left gasoline2
PFOS (a PFAS)	Women ages 16–49	Median fell from 24 to 2.3 ng/mL, 1999–2000 to 2017–20205	No longer used in the U.S.5
Mercury	Women of childbearing age	Median fell from 0.9 to 0.6 µg/L, 1999–2000 to 2017–20184	Most exposure comes from eating fish4

Notice the pattern. The chemicals that fell the most were cut off upstream, by policy or by ending their use. Mercury, which reaches people mainly through the fish they choose to eat, moved less⁴.

The averages also hide gaps. From 2015 to 2020, Black children and children in families below the poverty line had higher median blood lead levels than other children². Exposure is partly a matter of where you live and what your landlord fixed, not personal purity.

An ionic foot bath was tested, and the water told the story

Ionic foot baths are a common spa detox. You rest your feet in water while an electric “array” runs, and makers say the charged ions it produces draw charged particles out of the body through the skin⁶.

In 2010, a team from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, the University of Toronto and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute put one model to the test⁶. A grant from the Holistic Health Research Foundation paid for the study, and the maker donated the machine but had no other role⁶.

Six healthy adults used the IonCleanse foot bath for 30 minutes once a week for four weeks⁶. The researchers also ran the machine with no feet in the water, then compared the two.

What they found⁶:

• Adding feet made no meaningful difference to the total amount of potentially toxic metals in the water.
• Metals from the machine itself, such as chromium, iron and nickel, rose sharply, possibly from corrosion of the device’s metal array.
• Participants’ urine showed no meaningful change in toxic metals, and hair levels were unchanged in five of the six people.

The team’s verdict: nothing suggested the bath helped the body shed toxic elements, whether judged by the water, the urine or the hair⁶. They also thought it was unlikely to do harm⁶.

The study was small, and it tested one device. But it deserves credit. Researchers from a naturopathic college tested a natural-health claim fairly and published a negative result. That is how a field earns trust.

Sweat carries traces of metal, not a cleanup crew

Saunas are often sold as a way to sweat out heavy metals. Sweat does contain small amounts of them.

In a study published online in late 2022, researchers in South Korea and the U.S. collected sweat from 22 people using a type of infrared sauna. They measured eight toxic elements, including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury⁷.

What the study did not do matters more. It measured only what came out in sweat. The team drew no blood, so it could not show whether anyone’s body levels went down, and its summary did not compare the amounts with what people take in⁷.

Finding a substance in sweat proves it can leave that way. It does not show that sweating lowers the amount in your body enough to matter. Our article on infrared saunas covers the sweat question in more depth.

Chelation is for confirmed poisoning, and the source still comes first

The main medical way to pull metals out of the body is chelation, a drug treatment that binds metals so they leave in urine. Its risks are serious, and our companion article on what “detox” means explains them.

Even for doctors, chelation is a narrow tool. CDC guidance for children sorts care by blood lead level⁸:

• Below 3.5 µg/dL: learn about lead sources, eat foods rich in iron and calcium, and retest on schedule.
• 3.5 to 19: the result goes to the health department, and the clinician takes an exposure history and arranges a home investigation where required.
• 20 to 44: a full exam, possibly an abdominal X-ray, and a home investigation with a lead hazard reduction program.
• 45 and above: chelation becomes an option, decided with a medical toxicologist or a pediatrician experienced in lead poisoning.

Below 3.5, the focus is teaching families about lead sources. From 3.5 up, CDC’s steps include tracking down the source⁸. Chelation can’t protect a child who goes home to the same peeling paint.

An exposure plan that works

Here are the steps federal agencies recommend for the most common real exposures.

Exposure	Steps that work	Who says so
Lead in tap water	Use cold water for drinking and cooking; boiling won’t remove lead. Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead. Ask your utility about lead service lines.	CDC9
PFAS in tap water	Choose a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 or 58 for PFAS reduction, and change cartridges on schedule.	EPA10
Arsenic in well water	Test your well in spring or early summer; the federal limit is 10 parts per billion.	FDA11
Arsenic in rice	Cook rice in 6 to 10 parts water and drain. Rinsing alone does little. Vary your grains.	FDA11
Mercury in fish	Eat fish, but pick lower-mercury kinds. Skip king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, Gulf tilefish and bigeye tuna.	FDA and EPA12
Lead from cookware	Check FDA’s list of tested imported aluminum and brass pots. Throw them out; don’t donate them.	FDA13
Lead in remedies and cosmetics	Avoid greta, azarcon and similar powders, and kohl or sindoor of unknown purity.	CDC14
Lead and arsenic in baby food	Offer a variety of foods and grains. FDA set lead action levels for baby foods in 2025.	FDA1115

A few of these steps come with trade-offs worth knowing.

Rice. Cooking rice like pasta lowers inorganic arsenic by 40% to 60%, depending on the type¹¹. But in enriched white and parboiled rice, it also washes away 50% to 70% of the added folate, iron, niacin and thiamin¹¹. Varying your grains spreads the risk without that loss.

Fish. The goal is less mercury, not less fish. The FDA and EPA say strong evidence shows that fish, as part of a healthy diet, may benefit the heart¹². People who are or may become pregnant, or are breastfeeding, can eat 2 to 3 four-ounce servings a week from the “Best Choices” list, such as salmon, sardines and shrimp¹².

Filters. A certified filter is a real tool, but not a perfect one. EPA notes that, as of April 2024, the certification standards for PFAS filters didn’t yet show removal down to the agency’s newest drinking water levels, and that it is working with standard setters to update them¹⁰. EPA’s home-filter fact sheet, updated in August 2026, still carries that caveat¹⁰. Reverse osmosis systems also waste about a gallon of water for each gallon they treat¹⁰.

Cookware. FDA and state testers checked imported pots under conditions that mimic cooking¹³. By December 2025, the agency’s list held 21 products, including aluminum pots, kadais and brass pots, and the FDA warned that some might still be for sale¹³.

Baby food. In January 2025, the FDA issued final guidance setting action levels of 10 parts per billion of lead for most baby foods, and 20 for single-ingredient root vegetables and dry infant cereals¹⁵.

Some traditional remedies carry lead. Honor the tradition, test the product

Natural health puts a high value on purity. That value is exactly why this section matters.

The CDC has found dangerous lead levels in some traditional remedies¹⁴. Greta and azarcon, orange powders that some Hispanic families give for stomach trouble or rub on teething babies, can be up to 90% lead¹⁴. Lab tests of Daw Tway, a digestive remedy used in Thailand and Myanmar, found lead levels up to 970 parts per million¹⁴.

Cosmetics can carry lead, too. The CDC lists kajal, also called kohl or surma, and notes that one brand of sindoor, the red powder many Hindu and some Sikh women wear in the part of their hair, tested as high as 87% lead¹⁴.

Respecting a tradition doesn’t require trusting every batch sold under its name. The CDC points out that you can’t see or taste lead, and that lab testing is the only way to know¹⁴. If a remedy matters to your family, ask the seller for lab results, and ask your clinician about a blood lead test for anyone who has used it.

Seen this way, cutting exposure is the most natural detox there is. It works with your body instead of asking it to purge, and it protects the people around you.

What the evidence shows

Claim	What research found	Evidence rating
Cutting lead at the source lowers body levels	Children’s blood lead fell 96%, most steeply after lead left gasoline2	Strong evidence
A filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead cuts lead in tap water	The certification CDC tells consumers to look for9	Strong evidence
Certified filters remove PFAS down to EPA’s newest limits	EPA says current certification standards don’t yet show this10	Not enough evidence
Cooking rice in extra water and draining it lowers arsenic	40% to 60% less inorganic arsenic, with nutrient loss in enriched rice11	Strong evidence
Choosing lower-mercury fish keeps fish’s benefits with less mercury	Fish is the main mercury source; FDA and EPA cite strong evidence of possible heart benefits412	Strong evidence
Chelation helps confirmed high lead levels	CDC lists it as an option at 45 µg/dL and above, with expert care8	Strong evidence
Ionic foot baths remove toxins	Feet made no difference to the metals in the water6	Evidence says no, or unsafe
Sweating lowers body levels of metals	Traces found in sweat; no drop in body levels shown7	Not enough evidence

Questions readers ask

The bottom line

Real toxicants exist, and labs can measure them. The best evidence we have comes from national testing over decades, and it points one way: levels fell most when exposure was cut off at the source.

Foot baths and sweat sessions haven’t shown they lower anything in your body. Filters, smarter fish and rice choices, careful cookware and tested remedies can. That is a detox you can measure.

Related reading

• Real detox names the poison, and most detox products don’t
• Your body already detoxes itself, and a few everyday habits help it work
• Fear sells health products, and five questions show when the threat is real
• The famous sauna longevity study used Finnish saunas, not infrared cabins
• The signal word on a cleaner tells you more than “natural” does

Sources

1. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “A Toxicology Curriculum for Communities, Module One: Introduction to Toxicology.” ATSDR, undated.
2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “America’s Children and the Environment: Biomonitoring: Lead.” EPA, updated 2026. epa.gov
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About the National Exposure Report.” CDC, updated 2026. cdc.gov
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “America’s Children and the Environment: Biomonitoring: Mercury.” EPA, updated 2026. epa.gov
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “America’s Children and the Environment: Biomonitoring: Perfluorochemicals (PFAS).” EPA, updated 2026. epa.gov
6. Kennedy DA, Cooley K, Einarson TR, Seely D. “Objective Assessment of an Ionic Footbath (IonCleanse): Testing Its Ability to Remove Potentially Toxic Elements from the Body.” Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
7. Cho K, Jung S, Choi M, et al. “Effect of water filtration infrared-A (wIRA) sauna on inorganic ions excreted through sweat from the human body.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2023 (online October 2022). link.springer.com
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Recommended Actions Based on Blood Lead Level.” CDC, 2025. cdc.gov
9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Lead in Drinking Water.” CDC, 2025. cdc.gov
10. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Identifying Drinking Water Filters Certified to Reduce PFAS,” updated November 2025, and “Reducing PFAS in Your Drinking Water with a Home Filter,” updated August 2026. EPA. epa.gov and epa.gov
11. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “What You Can Do to Limit Exposure to Arsenic.” FDA, 2022. fda.gov
12. U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Advice About Eating Fish.” FDA, advice revised October 2021, page current as of March 2024. fda.gov
13. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “FDA Issues Warning About Imported Cookware That May Leach Lead (August 2025).” FDA, updated December 2025. fda.gov
14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Lead in Foods, Cosmetics, and Medicines.” CDC, 2025. cdc.gov
15. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Guidance for Industry: Action Levels for Lead in Processed Food Intended for Babies and Young Children.” FDA, January 2025. fda.gov