A retest pattern, one toxic metal
One toxic metal line climbs steeply between two tests while the rest of the chart holds
The pattern workbook names a lead surge and an arsenic surge: a steep rise in that one metal on a retest. Trace Elements, Inc. sets the limits and the five lead ratios the rise is read against, and Analytical Research Labs records what a higher toxic metal reading on a retest usually means.
The pattern workbook Eileen reads charts against defines the surge by metal: a toxic mineral lead surge is a steep rise in lead, and a toxic mineral arsenic surge is a steep rise in arsenic. The pattern is a comparison, so it needs a first test and a retest from the same laboratory, because acceptable ranges differ from lab to lab. It names one metal. A rise in most or all toxic metals together is a different retest pattern.
Trace Elements, Inc. (TEI) sets the upper limit for lead at 0.5 mg% and for arsenic at 0.020 mg%. Analytical Research Labs (ARL) places its lead ideal at 0.1 mg% or less. A surge is read first against those lines: a lead line that rises from 0.1 to 0.3 mg% stays under the TEI limit, and a rise from 0.3 to 0.9 mg% crosses it.
Both laboratories report on unwashed hair. TEI cites Taylor's finding that no reported washing procedure removes all external trace elements, and that for lead, cadmium and arsenic there is no purpose in attempting to cleanse the sample. The toxic metal readings are therefore taken from the sample as it arrives.
ARL records that lead behaves like calcium and is stored in bone when calcium is deficient. Its documents state that as long as the body contains excessive lead fixed in the tissues, notably bone, symptomatic recurrences remain a threat, and that blood tests do not identify lead stored in tissue. ARL puts adult absorption of ingested lead at 1 to 10 percent and retention in children at up to 50 percent.
ARL's retest documents record that not all toxic metals are revealed on the first test. Metals sequestered in tissue appear on a later test when energy levels improve and the body mobilizes them out of storage and eliminates them through the hair. ARL states that only through retests is it often possible to identify and remove hidden toxic metals buried deeply in the tissues, and that uncovering the deeper metals takes at least a year or two of testing.
A lead surge on a retest is therefore the first time the chart shows lead that was already present. ARL's rule for reading it: higher toxic metals on a retest usually means one is actively eliminating metals, not a worsening of toxicity.
TEI judges each toxic metal against the nutrient minerals that antagonize it. Its 2010 set gives five lead ratios with minimum values: calcium to lead 84 to 1, iron to lead 4.4 to 1 (5.6 to 1 in its 1993 reference), magnesium to lead 12 to 1, copper to lead 5 to 1 and zinc to lead 40 to 1. TEI's rule: a ratio below 84 to 1 indicates a potential toxicity of lead even if the lead is within an acceptable level.
The arithmetic shows how a surge moves the ratios. With calcium at TEI's ideal of 60 mg% and lead at 0.2 mg%, Ca/Pb is 300. If lead rises to 0.8 mg%, a four-fold surge, Ca/Pb falls to 75, under the 84 line, while the lead reading itself is still above the 0.5 limit by only 0.3 mg%. With calcium at ARL's ideal of 40 mg%, Ca/Pb reaches 84 only when lead is 0.476 mg% or lower. TEI's ideal iron is 2.2 mg%, so Fe/Pb holds 4.4 only while lead stays at or under 0.5 mg%.
A surge can also lower a ratio that was passing. Zinc at TEI's ideal of 20 mg% gives Zn/Pb 40 at lead 0.5; any lead above 0.5 puts the ratio under 40. Magnesium at 6 mg% holds Mg/Pb 12 only to lead 0.5. Copper at 2.5 mg% holds Cu/Pb 5 only to lead 0.5. The five ratios and the 0.5 limit are therefore built on the same ideal set.
ARL records that lead and cadmium displace calcium and distort the calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) ratio, whose ideal publishes as 6.67 (ARL) to 7 (TEI). ARL also records that a reading can be the sum of normal metabolism, retention, excretion, loss, displacement and bio-unavailability, and that mineral excretion elevates the hair reading. A lead line rising during elimination is lead leaving through the hair, so the surge and the elimination are the same event on the chart.
ARL's elimination documents list what it recorded during lead elimination: bone and joint pain, fatigue, general malaise and a metallic taste in the mouth. Its four simultaneous mechanisms of metal removal are increasing biochemical energy production, chelating agents such as vitamin C, antagonistic elements that compete with the metal, and support of the eliminative organs. For lead, ARL names calcium as the antagonist and records that lead is stored in the bone when a calcium deficiency exists, and that the lower a person's calcium reserves, the more toxic effect lead has on the system.
ARL also records, from thousands of toxic metal elimination reactions, that the body will not undertake an elimination faster than it is capable of handling. A surge on a retest is read with the Na/K ratio beside it, because ARL names the elimination of a heavy toxic metal as the most common cause of a sodium/potassium inversion on a retest chart.
A low lead reading is not the end of the question. ARL's poor eliminator concept, covered in the article on low toxic metal readings, describes a metal reading held low because the body is not releasing it. The workbook's surge is the retest in which that same metal begins to move. A chart that reads lead at 0.05 mg% on the first test and 0.6 mg% on the retest has crossed TEI's 0.5 limit, and ARL reads the crossing as the metal surfacing.
The arsenic surge is defined the same way, as a steep rise in arsenic against TEI's 0.020 mg% upper limit.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lead upper limit | 0.5 mg% | TEI, 2010 set |
| Lead ideal | 0.1 mg% or less | ARL |
| Arsenic upper limit | 0.020 mg% | TEI |
| Ca/Pb minimum | 84 to 1 | TEI |
| Fe/Pb minimum | 4.4 to 1 (5.6 in 1993) | TEI |
| Mg/Pb minimum | 12 to 1 | TEI |
| Cu/Pb minimum | 5 to 1 | TEI |
| Zn/Pb minimum | 40 to 1 | TEI |
| Lead absorbed, adults | 1 to 10 percent of intake | ARL |
| Lead retained, children | up to 50 percent | ARL |
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test and is not diagnostic. It reports tissue mineral levels in milligrams percent (mg%) and the ratios between them; it does not establish a cause, and it does not measure what is circulating in blood today. Each reading reflects roughly 2 to 3 months of hair growth, and a retest 3 to 5 months later shows the direction of change. Where the laboratory literature describes a trend, that trend belongs to the mineral pattern rather than to any person reading about it.
The lead line on both reports comes first, each against 0.5 mg% (TEI) and 0.1 mg% (ARL), with the direction and the size of the change written down. Then the five lead ratios on the retest: Ca/Pb against 84, Fe/Pb against 4.4, Mg/Pb against 12, Cu/Pb against 5 and Zn/Pb against 40.
Next: the calcium line and the Ca/Mg ratio against 6.67 to 7, the Na/K ratio against 2.4 to 2.5, and the other toxic metal lines, to confirm that one metal rose rather than all of them. The symptom record kept between the two tests is read beside the chart.
The pattern workbook defines it as a steep rise in lead between one test and the next. It names one metal; a rise in most toxic metals together is a different retest pattern.
Trace Elements, Inc. sets the upper limit at 0.5 mg%. Analytical Research Labs places its ideal at 0.1 mg% or less.
ARL reads it the other way: a higher toxic metal on a retest usually means the metal is being eliminated through the hair, after being stored in tissue such as bone where the first test did not show it.
TEI reads lead against calcium (84 to 1), iron (4.4 to 1), magnesium (12 to 1), copper (5 to 1) and zinc (40 to 1). A ratio below its minimum indicates a potential lead toxicity even when the lead reading is within its limit.
A full hair tissue mineral analysis reports lead, arsenic and the other toxic metals beside the nutrient minerals, so a retest shows which metal rose, by how much, and what the five lead ratios did.
Published 2026-11-14 · Updated 2026-11-14
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. This article is for educational purposes only. Wellness Shopping Online is operated by Nuco Enterprise Solutions LLC.
