How Products were Selected:
Selected products represent those commonly sold and/or available in the U.S. and Canada. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market through retail stores, on-line retailers, or direct sales companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers.Testing Methods:
- Products listing amounts of glucosamine were analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) (AOAC 2005.01, USP DSC 2024).
- Products listing amounts of chondroitin sulfate were analyzed by HPLC following enzyme digestion or capillary electrophoresis (CE) (AOAC 2015.11).
- Products listing amounts of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) were analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC) (USP DSC 2024).
- All products containing glucosamine or non-bovine chondroitin were analyzed for lead and those containing whole herbs and/or more than 250 mg per daily serving of minerals were evaluated for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS).
ConsumerLab.com may modify or use other appropriate test methods if necessary to test special product formulations.
Identities of products were not disclosed to laboratories performing the testing.
Passing Score:*
To be "Approved" by ConsumerLab.com a product must meet the following requirements:- Contain 100% and not more than 160% of label claim for levels of the appropriate forms of glucosamine and/or chondroitin.
- Contain 100% and not more than 130% of label claim for MSM.
- Heavy Metals: Products containing whole herbs, glucosamine, non-bovine chondroitin and/or more than 250 mg of minerals per daily dose must not exceed the following limits:
Lead:- Products marketed for use by children under 12 years of age may not exceed the State of California's Prop 65 limits for lead in dietary supplements of 0.5 mcg per recommended daily serving with an additional allowance of 0.8 mcg if the product contains more than 1,000 mg/day of calcium.
- Products with a single serving weights of less than 5 grams that are not marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed the State of California's Prop 65 limits for lead in dietary supplements of 0.5 mcg per recommended daily serving (above which a warning regarding reproductive harm, birth defects, or cancer risks is required in California) with an additional allowance of 0.4 mcg if containing 250-999 mg/day of any combination of elemental calcium, magnesium and potassium or 0.8 mcg if containing more than 1,000 mg/day of any combination of these minerals. An additional allowance of 0.5 mcg is provided if containing 250-999 mg/day of whole herb (not extract) or 1.0 mcg if containing 1000 mg/day or more of whole herb (not extract). However, total lead allowance must not exceed 2 mcg per daily serving.
- Products with single serving weights of 5 grams or more that are not marketed for children under 12 years of age may not exceed 2.5 mcg per serving nor 4.0 mcg per daily serving.
- Contain less than 10 micrograms of total arsenic per daily serving (based on Canada’s limit per daily serving of a natural health product, and U.S. EPA and state of New Jersey limit in 1 liter of water). Products found to exceed this amount were tested for inorganic arsenic and must not contain more than 2.1 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per daily serving (Canada's additional limit in natural health products).
- If marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed 3.0 micrograms of cadmium per recommended daily serving (based on Canada's limit for a child weighing 75lbs). If not marketed for use by children under 12 years of age, may not exceed 4.1 micrograms of cadmium per recommended daily serving (above which California's Prop 65 law requires a "reproductive harm" warning due to developmental toxicity and male reproductive harm.
- May not exceed 2 micrograms of inorganic mercury per daily serving (based on EPA limit for mercury in 1 liter of water).
- Be in compliance with FDA labeling requirements.
