How to Read Your HTMA Results: A Guide to the Lab Report

Understanding Your Report Structure

Start with the basics: your name, the collection details, the units and the laboratory's reference intervals. Your sample is analyzed by Trace Elements, Inc., a CLIA-certified laboratory (per the laboratory) using ICP-Mass Spectrometry; official example reports are available from the laboratory.

The laboratory report shows graphs of measured elements and ratios. The laboratory's examples show several report formats, and not every package includes everything shown in them — for example, the laboratory's own interpretive Profile 2 narrative is a laboratory product, not our Report of Findings.

HTMA measures the concentration of selected elements in the hair specimen you submit, reported against the laboratory's reference intervals. Hair reflects elements incorporated into hair as it grew (scalp-near hair roughly covers the past few months of growth) and can be affected by external contamination, hair treatments and collection conditions.

Reading Individual Element Levels

Results are usually reported in milligrams percent (mg%) or parts per million (ppm) and shown as a bar or marker against the laboratory's reference interval. A result outside the reference interval is not a diagnosis of deficiency or toxicity, and a result inside it does not mean a level is "safe". A reference interval describes how results are distributed; it is not a health target.

Common Nutrient Minerals on the Report

• Calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg): often discussed together. Hair values don't reliably reflect your intake, your blood levels or the amount stored in your bones.
• Sodium (Na) and potassium (K): measurements of the hair specimen. They are not measures of adrenal or thyroid function.
• Zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu): reported separately and as a ratio. Hair copper can be raised by external sources such as swimming pool water or hair products, so a high value is not a diagnosis of copper excess.
• Iron (Fe): hair iron doesn't reliably reflect blood iron or iron stores. Iron status is assessed with blood tests such as ferritin.

If any value concerns you, take the full report to a licensed healthcare professional.

What Mineral Ratios Are (and Aren't)

Ratios are calculated from measured elements and are labelled by element (Ca/Mg — calcium to magnesium). They are not tests of thyroid, adrenal, hormone or blood-sugar function.

You may see ratios such as calcium/potassium (Ca/K), sodium/potassium (Na/K), calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg), zinc/copper (Zn/Cu) and sodium/magnesium (Na/Mg). Some practitioners use these ratios as patterns to discuss, and you may see them described elsewhere with labels such as "thyroid ratio" or "adrenal ratio". Those labels are interpretations, not measurements: interpretation of hair mineral patterns is not established for all the uses it is promoted for; laboratory measurement quality does not validate every interpretation.

Where a report shows a reference interval for a ratio, the same rule applies: a ratio outside it is not a diagnosis, and a ratio inside it is not proof of good health.

"Metabolic Type" Labels

Some HTMA interpretation systems sort results into "fast" or "slow" metabolic or oxidation types based on mineral ratios. These are labels used within those interpretation systems. They are not medical measurements of metabolic rate or of thyroid or adrenal function, and they are not a diagnosis. If you see these labels, treat them as one way of describing a pattern in hair, not as a fact about how your body works.

Reading Toxic Metal Results

The report lists toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum with the laboratory's reference intervals. A low hair result does not mean a level is "safe", and a high hair result does not diagnose poisoning — hair can pick up metals from outside the body, such as water, dust and hair products.

Exposure sources people commonly ask about include old paint and older plumbing (lead), some fish (mercury), tobacco smoke (cadmium), some well water (arsenic), and some antacids and antiperspirants (aluminum).

If a toxic-metal result concerns you, or you think you may have been exposed, talk to a licensed healthcare professional. Exposure to metals such as lead is assessed with blood or urine tests, not with hair alone.

In 2001 the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) convened an expert panel that discussed limitations of hair analysis, including external contamination, variable laboratory methods and limited ability to relate hair levels to health effects (ATSDR hair analysis panel). It is a 2001 discussion summary, not a current rule.

What To Do With Your Results

1. Don't treat any single value as a diagnosis. Read values and ratios in context.
2. Share the full report with a licensed healthcare professional, especially if you have symptoms or take medication.
3. Use our interpretation for what it is. The Comprehensive HTMA test includes a custom 10+ page educational Report of Findings and diet handout written by our FDN-P practitioner, and the Premium HTMA package adds a custom 30–60 minute prerecorded video going over your results. Essential includes the laboratory report only, to review with your own naturopath or functional-medicine provider. Our Report of Findings and video are educational wellness information from our FDN-P practitioner. FDN-P is a certification, not a licence to practise medicine, and our interpretation is not a diagnosis, medical treatment plan or prescription.
4. Don't start, stop or change supplements or medication because of a hair result. Discuss any change with a licensed healthcare professional.
5. Retesting: hair grows slowly, so a retest only reflects new growth after several months. Whether a retest is useful for you is worth discussing with a licensed healthcare professional.