Consumer Safety Research Center
Independent testing. Corporate accountability. Safer products.
CSRC is an independent California nonprofit research organization. We purchase everyday consumer products off the shelf, test them at ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratories for lead, heavy metals, and hazardous chemicals — and when the law is broken, we enforce it.
An independent nonprofit laboratory-testing initiative
Long Beach, California
01 — Why we exist
Heavy metals concentrate in processed plant material — cocoa, greens, root crops — and arrive unlabeled in protein powders, supplements, and foods marketed as healthy. Federal limits are fragmentary. Enforcement is slow.
California's Proposition 65 gives the public a tool: companies must warn consumers about significant exposures to listed chemicals — and private citizens can enforce that duty when regulators don't. CSRC exists to use that tool, rigorously and in the open.
02 — Method
01
High-risk ingredients, large serving sizes, high sales volume, no existing warning. Selection criteria are published — not ad hoc.
02
Bought at retail like any consumer would, with the full order record preserved as chain-of-custody evidence.
03
ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory analysis by ICP-MS under validated AOAC methods. We use the same labs industry uses.
04
Exposure per labeled serving computed against California's published safe-harbor levels — the state's own math.
05
A credentialed quality/regulatory expert reviews the data and signs an attestation supporting a certificate of merit.
06
A statutory 60-day notice is served on the violator and public prosecutors. Outcomes we pursue: reformulation, warnings, penalties.
Methods: AOAC 2011.19 / 993.14 / 2015.01 (mod.) · ICP-MS
Standard: Cal. Health & Safety Code § 25249.5 et seq. (Proposition 65)
Safe harbor reference: lead MADL 0.5 µg/day
03 — First finding
154%
0.772 µg
lead measured per labeled serving,
ICP-MS, accredited laboratory
0.5 µg/day
California maximum allowable
dose level (MADL) for lead
The product carried no Proposition 65 warning. Enforcement is in preparation; the full certificate of analysis, exposure calculation, and expert attestation will be published here when the statutory notice is served. That is the standard for everything we release: the document trail, not just the headline.
04 — Transparency
| Commitment | What we publish |
|---|---|
| Accredited data only | Every claim traces to an ISO/IEC 17025 lab certificate of analysis, published in full. |
| Open methodology | Selection criteria, test methods, and exposure math — disclosed with every finding. |
| Documented custody | Retail purchase records from order to lab receipt, preserved and produced. |
| Public accountability | Every 60-day notice is filed with the Attorney General and public prosecutors — a public record by design. |
| Public record | Reference |
|---|---|
| Corporate entity | California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation № 6408936, filed October 2, 2024 |
| Federal EIN | 33-1317625 |
| Statutory basis | Cal. Health & Safety Code § 25249.5 et seq. |
| Governance | Bylaws, conflict-of-interest policy, and board roster available on request. |
Where settlements fund our work, that funding and its statutory basis are disclosed. Civil penalties under Proposition 65 are allocated by law — 75% to the State of California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
05 — Questions
Often, yes. Heavy metals occur naturally in soil and concentrate in processed plant ingredients like cocoa, greens, and rice. Independent testing programs have repeatedly found measurable lead in plant-based protein powders. Our first accredited test measured 0.772 micrograms of lead in a single serving of a top-selling plant protein powder — 154% of California's daily safe-harbor limit.
Health authorities, including the CDC and WHO, recognize no safe level of lead exposure. For regulation, California sets a Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) of 0.5 micrograms per day for reproductive harm — the "safe harbor" line. Products exposing consumers to more than that without a warning may violate Proposition 65.
Proposition 65 is a California law that requires businesses to provide a clear warning before knowingly exposing consumers to significant amounts of chemicals the state has identified as causing cancer or reproductive harm — a list of about 900 substances, including lead. If a product needs a warning and doesn't carry one, the law can be enforced by public prosecutors or by private parties like CSRC.
CSRC is funded by its founders, individual supporters, and — where enforcement succeeds — statutory settlements. Civil penalties under Proposition 65 are allocated by law, with 75% going to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. We disclose our funding sources and accept no money from the companies we test.
Use the report form below. Tell us the product name and brand, and why it concerns you — an ingredient, a claim, a news report. The strongest candidates combine a high-risk ingredient, a large serving size, high sales volume, and no existing warning. If we test it, the results are published.
Not yet. CSRC is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, and our application for federal 501(c)(3) recognition is in progress. Until the IRS issues its determination, contributions are not tax-deductible. We will state it plainly on this page the day that changes.
06 — Act
Accredited laboratory testing is expensive — that's why so little of it happens outside industry. Your support pays for sample purchases, ICP-MS panels, and the legal work that turns data into safer products.
CSRC is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation. Our application for federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status is in progress; contributions are not tax-deductible at this time. We will say so plainly here the day that changes.
Contact us to contributeTest results and safety alerts, published as they clear review. No noise.