Glossary
What is Heavy Metals?
A traditional pharmacopoeial limit test in which metals that form coloured sulfides, such as lead, were measured together and expressed as lead. It has largely been replaced in pharmaceuticals by element-specific testing and risk assessment under ICH Q3D and USP chapters 232 and 233, using ICP-MS or ICP-OES. Reagent specifications still commonly report heavy metals as Pb.