Why is Heavy Metal Toxicity Testing Necessary for the Environment?

The human origins of heavy metal pollution in water supplies is the result of numerous activities including our burning of fossil fuels, vehicle exhaust, mining, agricultural applications, and the waste incineration of both solids and liquids. In addition to our human contribution there are natural contributions to heavy metals in the environment; these include volcanoes, thermal springs, erosion, infiltration, as well as others. The very concerning environmental threats of these heavy metal contaminants are particularly a result of their toxic effects to humans, wildlife, domestic animals and aquatic life.

Identifying the presence of and concentration of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, cobalt, nickel, zinc and selenium is essential in order to begin the difficult process of their remediation. Even at extremely low concentrations heavy metal pollution is highly toxic and creates a major concern for our environment. It is vital to test both our water sources and our soils for these heavy metals. Environmental testing laboratories have highly sophisticated equipment and tremendously experienced chemists who carry out these tests and will give you reliable results in a short period of time.

Environmental laboratory tests are the first step in helping to heal our land, water, wildlife and ourselves from the dangers of heavy metals. We must first identify areas of contamination in order to begin mitigation efforts, to identify causes of heavy metals contamination, to identify polluters and to protect ourselves from future heavy metal environmental impact.

These heavy metals enter into birds, fish and mammals through breathing, absorption through the skin or consumption. Because they are inorganic elements or compounds, the animals are unable to metabolize them. This causes the heavy metals to accumulate in the soft and fatty tissues. They are then passed to humans when we consume fish, poultry, dairy products or the meat of these animals in our diets.

Testing our foods, animal feed, water sources, and soils is extremely important for our human health. General testing is also an excellent way to get an understanding of the overall heavy metal environmental impact in a certain area. When heavy metal levels have been identified and quantified it becomes much easier to identify ways of keeping people and livestock away from the highest heavy metal concentrations while also devising and implementing remediation plans for contaminated sites.

Torrent Laboratory has decades of experience with heavy metal pollution testing. Torrent is committed to updating our instruments frequently in order to always maintain cutting edge technologies in the environmental testing field. We have the capability to perform multiple testing methodologies for almost all of the pollutants we test for; which means that we can retest using a different method in order to confirm any original findings. This is helpful and sometimes necessary if testing results fall outside of expectations, reveal anomalies, or if they reveal a costly contamination that might want to be confirmed before remediation efforts begin.

More specifically Torrent offers ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) testing to detect heavy metals. This method is particularly effective for cases in which it is necessary to detect low levels of trace metals in groundwater or drinking water and/or when it is necessary to confirm whether certain metals are in a water or soil matrix.

All of the chemists at Torrent have years of testing experience, degrees from the finest universities, and are highly skilled lab technicians. Our several decades in the environmental laboratory business have taught us many things that allow us to be prepared for any situation, to tailor our efforts to your needs, and to be prepared with prior experience for any potential problems as well as potential solutions.

Torrent has also received the highest accreditations from the State of California, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy which means we have met or exceeded all of the most stringent environmental testing criteria. Add to these accolades the fact that we have the highest Turnaround Times (TATs) in the industry and you can understand some of the many benefits of getting your heavy metal pollution testing done right with a top notch laboratory.

There is no question that heavy metal environmental impact will continue to be a problem for human health for decades to come. For that reason alone, as well as others, efforts of detection and remediation will be essential in the coming years in order to preserve human health and the long term health of the planet. It will be important for the environmental industry to continue to improve the current technologies while also continually developing new methods for testing and remediation.

Torrent Laboratory will be at the heart of these essential steps to ensure a healthier future for all of us. Contact us to discover how we can help you with heavy metal pollution or any of a very wide range of environmental pollutants and contaminants. We have the full capabilities and competencies to test for the full list of pollutants in all matrices – air, water and soil.

Guided by the principles of Six Sigma, Kaizen, and Lean Thinking, our full-service lab offers the fastest turnaround times in the industry, CA ELAP, Department of Energy (DOE ELAP) and Department of Defense (DoD ELAP) certification, and unparalleled customer service.

Torrent Laboratory provides the region’s most advanced capabilities:

• Fastest TATs in the industry
• Gold standard certifications
• Unrivaled technical and customer support
• Unparalleled on-time performance
• Impeccable quality
• Competitive pricing