Lead and its antagonist
Lead is stored in bone on the same pattern as calcium
Analytical Research Labs records that lead replaces calcium, that low calcium reserves raise lead uptake into bone, and that the calcium reading can stay normal while it happens.
Analytical Research Labs (ARL) records that lead behaves like calcium in storage: lead is stored in bone when a calcium deficiency exists. Its lead paper adds the mechanism. When lead is deposited in bone, the deposits take the same pattern as calcium deposits, and when both lead and calcium are present, bone is more likely to take up the lead, because lead compounds in bone are less soluble than the corresponding calcium phosphates.
The same paper records the calcium side of this: when extra calcium is given before lead exposure, less lead is taken up by bone. Its summary line is that storage of lead may be reduced by keeping bones filled with calcium. ARL names prolonged stress, a high intake of phytate-rich foods and excessive alcohol as causes of the calcium deficiency that lets lead in.
ARL's toxic-metal masking table lists lead as replacing calcium and displacing calcium in the calcium/magnesium ratio. An artificially normal calcium can hide lead. A calcium level that sits near ideal can include lead standing in the calcium sites.
The ideal calcium level publishes as a range: 40 mg% on the ARL set and 60 mg% on the current Trace Elements set, which replaced its 1985 to 1993 figure of 42 mg%. The Ca/Mg ideal is 6.67 (ARL) to 7 (Trace Elements). Lead and cadmium both distort that ratio, so a Ca/Mg reading on a chart carrying lead is read with the lead figure beside it.
ARL also records that the lower a person's calcium reserves, the more toxic effect a given amount of lead has. A small lead concentration with low calcium can carry a larger trend than a higher lead concentration with adequate calcium.
Trace Elements sets the lead upper limit below 0.5 mg%. ARL's reference is 0.1 mg% or less. The calcium/lead minimum of 84:1 is covered on the toxic ratios page, and Trace Elements' position is that a Ca/Pb below 84:1 indicates potential lead toxicity even when lead itself is within an acceptable level.
Lead is read against four more nutrients on the Trace Elements set: magnesium/lead at least 12:1, copper/lead at least 5:1, zinc/lead at least 40:1 and iron/lead at least 4.4:1. ARL's lead paper supports three of these pairings: lead disturbs copper, zinc, calcium and manganese; low dietary copper is related to higher lead in red blood cells; higher zinc intake lowered lead absorption in animals; and iron deficiency increases lead absorption from the digestive tract.
The ARL toxic-metals text records that low-calcium and low-phosphorus diets both increase lead incorporation into the skeleton, and that low-calcium diets inhibit its later release. Its field observation is that an elevated lead level is more often than not associated with a low calcium/phosphorus ratio, and that lead elimination is not complete until the Ca/P ratio is balanced. It reports roughly 30 percent of cases showing either a low calcium or a low Ca/P ratio.
The Ca/P ideal is 2.5 (ARL) to 2.6 (Trace Elements). Phosphorus is described as the mineral most protective against lead absorption: rats on a high-phosphorus, low-calcium diet had blood lead too low to measure accurately, despite that diet carrying three times as much lead.
ARL describes lead stored in at least five tissue reservoirs. As one reservoir releases lead through hair, the hair lead reading rises and then falls, which can look like complete elimination. A year later another reservoir may release, producing a second rise. Retests every 3 to 5 months are what show that sequence.
Stored lead can also move without new exposure. ARL records release during severe illness, fever, acidosis or alkalosis, and during stressful periods, and notes that lead elimination decreases with age because the metabolic rate falls. It also records that vitamin D and summer sun raise intestinal lead absorption and mobilize lead from bone, and that growth spurts move calcium and lead into the blood together.
For detection, the ARL text states that blood lead reflects recent exposure: only minimal amounts remain in blood about 30 days after exposure, while lead deposits in bone and brain. Hair lead concentrations are often 10 times greater than blood.
ARL's lead paper associates stored lead with an osteoporosis trend, a hypothyroid trend, a diabetes trend, an abnormal cell growth trend and an adrenal insufficiency trend, together with digestive and joint readings.
Release is recorded with bone and joint pain, fatigue, constipation, a metallic taste and vague aches. ARL's instruction is that lead is eliminated gradually, and the ARL text records that raising phosphorus intake returns lead to bone storage when removal is moving too fast.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns. It does not diagnose, it does not establish a cause, and it does not measure what is circulating in blood today. Each mineral reading reflects roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it. Anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider.
On any chart with lead above the reference, I read calcium, the Ca/P ratio and Ca/Pb together before the lead figure alone. A calcium near 40 to 60 mg% with lead present is the combination the masking table describes.
On a retest I compare the lead line across every test in the series, because the five-reservoir model means one fall in lead is one reservoir, and the Ca/P ratio tells me whether release can continue.
ARL records that lead behaves like calcium in storage and is stored in bone when calcium is deficient. Lead can also replace calcium, so an artificially normal calcium reading can hide lead.
Under 0.5 mg% on the Trace Elements set and 0.1 mg% or less on the ARL reference. Lead is also read against calcium (84:1), magnesium (12:1), copper (5:1), zinc (40:1) and iron (4.4:1).
ARL describes lead stored in at least five tissue reservoirs. Each reservoir can release separately, so a second rise may appear a year after the first one fell.
The ARL text states blood lead reflects recent exposure, with minimal amounts left in blood about 30 days after exposure, while hair lead is often 10 times higher than blood.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports lead with calcium, phosphorus and the Ca/Pb ratio on one page, so a calcium reading can be checked for lead standing in its place.
Published 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-08-30
By Eileen Durfee — Practitioner, NBS (Nutritional Balancing Science), NASM-CPT; wellness educator, inventor and author.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test and is not diagnostic; anything medical belongs with your own licensed provider. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
