The Heavy Metal Index is a research reference operated by the Institute of Contaminant Standards. It organizes evidence on heavy metals in food, consumer products, and human health, helping readers explore what studies and regulators report, where findings differ, and how strong the available evidence is. Its library covers 36 metals, 363 food ingredients, 416 consumer-product categories, and 180 regulations across 188 jurisdictions.

Visitors can review metal profiles, ingredient contamination data, product-category risk profiles, agency limits, and regulatory timelines. The Index also provides research syntheses, testing-method information, and a source archive with extracted values, reported methods, and document file hashes. Its collection includes peer-reviewed studies, government reports and datasets, and curated sources.

The site explains its search strategy, screening and extraction methods, editorial standards, and evidence coverage, while maintaining public audits, corrections, and versioned page histories. It is intended as a reference library, not a product-testing or brand-ranking service: it does not test products, identify brands, or advise consumers what to buy.