Testing
Hair mineral and heavy metal testing
Reviewed by Carmen Farrugia — Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, and an AHPRA-registered midwife (NMW0001034617)
Last updated
A hair tissue mineral analysis measures 36 elements — essential minerals and potentially toxic elements — from a small sample of your hair, analysed by mass spectrometry in a laboratory. The test costs $285.
There is no kit to wait for. You collect the sample yourself, post it to us, complete the health questionnaire online, and pay.
⛔ Three things complete an order
The laboratory cannot begin until all three have been received:
- Your hair sample — posted to us
- Your completed questionnaire — submitted online
- Your payment — online through the shop, or over the phone
The questionnaire matters because the laboratory needs information about you alongside the sample. Without it, the result is a set of measurements with none of the background needed to read them.
Getting started — four steps
1. Prepare your sample
No kit is posted to you, so you can collect the sample as soon as you’re ready.
Wash your hair with an ordinary shampoo and let it dry naturally. Don’t use an anti-dandruff or mineral-based shampoo — selenium sulfide and zinc pyrithione deposit onto the hair the very elements this test sets out to measure. Don’t apply styling products before collection either.
Cut about one tablespoon of hair from four or five places across the back of the head, starting at the nape of the neck, as close to the scalp as you can with clean stainless steel scissors — thinning scissors work well on short hair. Keep the 3 cm closest to the scalp and discard the rest — and if your hair is shorter than 3 cm, send all of it. Short hair is not a problem.
Seal the hair in a clean paper envelope of its own — new rather than recycled — labelled with your name, age, sex and sample type, and put that envelope inside the one you post. Paper only: no plastic, no aluminium foil, and no staples, paper clips or sticky tape, which are metal and adhesive sitting against the sample. Foil is the one that costs you time: aluminium is one of the elements this test measures, so a foil-wrapped sample reads falsely high and the laboratory rejects it rather than analysing it. Nothing else goes in with the hair, so it can’t spill out when the envelope is opened.
2. Send it in
Post the envelope to:
Naturopathy Melbourne5/68 Melville Road
Brunswick West VIC 3055
The turnaround period begins when your sample arrives at the clinic, not when you post it.
3. Complete the health questionnaire
This is where you give the context around the sample — your symptoms, medications, diet, relevant exposures and other health information.
It takes a few minutes, and it’s what puts the laboratory’s measurements into context.
Complete the health questionnaire →
4. Pay
The test costs $285. Order it at the foot of this page, or call the clinic and pay over the phone.
Paying online gives you an order number. Paying by phone does not — a phone payment is recorded against the name of the person being tested, rather than the person paying. Either way it is the name that ties your payment to your envelope and your questionnaire, so use the same one on all three.
What this test is
A screening measurement, not a diagnostic test.
The laboratory measures the levels of 36 elements in your hair sample — essential minerals and toxic metals. That’s the measurement people come for, and it’s a real one.
Hair mineral analysis doesn’t diagnose a nutrient deficiency and doesn’t confirm heavy metal poisoning, and it isn’t meant to. A result is read in the context of your medical history, diet, medications and symptoms; no hair result stands on its own as a diagnosis. That reading is the part that makes it worth having, and it’s why the report is gone through with your naturopath rather than acted on off the page.
Results also vary between laboratories, which use different analytical methods, reference ranges and reporting approaches.
What it may be useful for
- A starting point for a conversation about mineral intake
- Another source of information when looking at diet and general health
- Comparing results over time, where there’s a clear reason to repeat testing
What it doesn’t replace
- A blood or urine test your doctor has asked for
- Assessment of a suspected toxic exposure
- Professional advice about supplements or treatment
What can affect a sample
Several things affect how useful a sample is:
- Anti-dandruff or mineral-based shampoo — it deposits the elements being measured, which will artificially increase levels, impacting the final results
- Hair products — dry shampoo, styling products, hairspray
- Colouring, bleaching or perming. These alter the mineral content of the strand itself. If your hair is treated, the laboratory asks you to wait six to eight weeks and sample the fresh growth
- Mixing two kinds of hair in one envelope. Scalp and body hair grow at different rates and cannot be analysed together — one type per sample. Scalp hair is what the test is for; underarm or pubic hair is a last resort rather than an alternative, and if you have to use it, note that on the envelope
- Foil, plastic, staples or tape. Aluminium is one of the elements measured, so foil deposits the very thing being counted and the sample is rejected rather than analysed — a clean paper envelope, nothing else
- Collecting from only one location
- Hair extending beyond the required 3 cm
- Not enough hair — the laboratory minimum is 0.125 g
If your hair is chemically treated, or you use hair products regularly, tell us on the questionnaire — it asks which shampoo you use, and that answer forms part of the laboratory’s assessment of the sample.
What the report contains
The measured levels of the 36 elements, and the laboratory’s accompanying interpretation.
A high reading for an element is not automatically a bad thing. Hair is one of the routes by which the body clears elements, so a raised value can indicate excretion working rather than accumulation — which is exactly why the report needs reading rather than reading off.
It may also describe patterns using terminology such as “metabolic type”. That terminology describes how the laboratory reports its measurements. It is not proof that the test has measured your metabolism.
One limitation worth knowing before you read it
The laboratory’s recommendations are generated from the sample and the information supplied with it. The laboratory does not examine you and does not have the clinical picture a treating practitioner has.
That’s why the report is best read alongside your history and everything else that’s relevant, rather than treated as a diagnosis or a treatment plan.
Fees and cancellation
The test costs $285.
There is no Medicare rebate for hair mineral analysis, and most private health funds don’t cover the laboratory test — although a separate naturopathy consultation may be claimable under some extras policies. Check with your fund before ordering.
If you cancel before laboratory analysis has begun, a 20% administration fee applies and the balance is refunded. Once analysis has begun the test can’t be refunded, because the laboratory’s costs have already been incurred.
If you’re unsure whether this test suits your situation, ask your naturopath before you order. Full terms are on the refunds page.
Turnaround
Around three to four weeks from the day your sample arrives at the clinic.
The clock starts when we receive the sample. Postage time is outside our control and isn’t included in that figure.
Having your report explained
Your naturopath can go through the report with you in the context of your history, diet, medications and symptoms — and if another form of testing would answer your question better, they’ll tell you that too.
Existing patients can book a results review appointment by phone or video.
Dogs and horses
Animals have their own version of hair mineral testing, with a different collection method, a different element count and a different report. That report is for your veterinarian and doesn’t replace a veterinary assessment.
Order the test
Payment is one of the three things the laboratory needs. Your sample and your questionnaire are the other two.
A hair tissue mineral analysis measuring 36 elements. A screening measurement read with your naturopath — not a diagnostic test.
Your questionnaire is part of this order. Fill it in now or straight after paying →
You can also pay over the phone — call the clinic on (03) 9089 7568 and reception will take it.
Frequently asked questions
Does this test diagnose a mineral deficiency?
I think I've been exposed to something. Is this the right test?
Not usually as the first test. Hair needs time to grow above the scalp, so an exposure does not immediately appear in the hair that can be collected. It generally takes around 10–14 days for newly grown hair to emerge above the scalp, depending on the individual.
This also means that a single or very recent exposure can be difficult to assess using hair. If you have a known or suspected recent exposure, blood or urine testing may be more appropriate — your naturopath can arrange that pathology, and the pathology centre charges its own fees.
Hair testing is generally more useful when you are looking retrospectively at exposure over a longer period, rather than trying to confirm a single recent event.
Your naturopath can discuss whether hair testing is appropriate for your circumstances, but do not delay medical assessment while waiting for a hair test, and do not use a hair result to rule an exposure out.
How much hair is needed?
How long do results take?
Does the laboratory's report tell me what to take?
The report may include recommendations based on your test results, but these are generated from the sample and the information supplied to the laboratory. The laboratory has not examined you and does not know your complete medical history, medications, diet or symptoms.
The recommendations should therefore not be treated as a personalised treatment plan or followed on their own. Your results should be discussed with your naturopath, who can consider them alongside your health history and circumstances before deciding whether any action is appropriate.
Ready to order?
Your sample, your questionnaire and your payment — the laboratory needs all three before it can begin.