About
Phthalates and bisphenols can migrate into food from packaging and processing, and product labels don't tell you how much is in what you eat. laboratory.love buys everyday foods at retail, has them analyzed by an independent laboratory, and publishes the results so you can see what's actually in the products you use.
Why? In 2023 the European Food Safety Authority lowered its tolerable daily intake for BPA 20,000-fold, and the EU has since banned BPA in food-contact materials. Many related chemicals are far less studied. We think consumers deserve to know what's in their food, and companies should feel pressure to remove these chemicals from their supply chains.
How testing works:
Order a testing package for the products you want analyzed. We handle sourcing, lab coordination, and reporting.
- Pick your products (or let us help scope a kitchen, pantry, or category)
- We acquire three samples anonymously through normal retail channels
- Light Labs analyzes each sample for 18 phthalates by GC-MS/MS and for BPA, BPS, and BPF by LC-MS/MS
- You receive a full report plus Certificates of Analysis, typically 6–8 weeks after your order is confirmed
Crowdfunded testing (still available):
If you'd rather split the cost with other people who care about a specific product, our original crowdfunded testing list is still running. Existing contributions and funding targets on legacy products are unchanged.
- Find (or add) a product you want tested
- Contribute toward its testing fund
- Get notified when testing completes and results are published
- Automatic refund after 365 days if the product doesn't reach its goal
Who we are
laboratory.love is operated by Very Little Gravitas Indeed, LLC, and was founded by Collin Ferry. It is based in Oakland, California. Reach us at collin@laboratory.love or through the contact page.
Our relationship with Light Labs
Every laboratory.love-commissioned sample is analyzed by Light Labs, an independent laboratory that states it is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. We are a paying customer: we pay for each analysis, and Light Labs has no ownership stake, revenue share, or sponsorship arrangement with us and no role in how we interpret or publish results.
Who interprets the results
We write each result summary and its exposure context from the laboratory's data, following our published methodology. Our results and guides have not been independently peer reviewed, and we do not yet have an external scientific reviewer. Certificates of Analysis for commissioned results are available on request, and corrections follow the policy in the methodology.
How we're funded
Testing is paid for by customers who buy testing packages, by crowdfunding contributions toward specific products, and by monthly and one-time contributions; we also run a referral partner program. Anyone can buy testing, including brands and retailers, on the same terms: results are published unless the customer opts out in writing before testing begins, and personal information is never published.
Follow specific products or subscribe to our newsletter for updates as new results go live.
This project was inspired by PlasticList.org's groundbreaking work; results imported from PlasticList are labeled separately from tests we commission. Results are point-in-time measurements of the samples tested and should be considered alongside other factors in making consumer choices.