How we calculate your Traced Score

Your Traced Score summarizes your overall exposure profile in a single number, from 0 to 10. It compares your levels of essential elements against your levels of toxic elements, measured relative to a global reference database. Here is how we get there.

First, we compare each element measured in your hair against that reference database. This shows where your levels sit relative to a broader population, element by element.

Next, we look for patterns. Elements rarely move on their own, so we use statistical modeling to find the ones that tend to rise and fall together. From those patterns, we draw out two underlying measures: one that summarizes your essential elements and one that summarizes your toxic elements.

Your Traced Score brings these two measures together, weighing your essential elements against your toxic ones. A higher score indicates fewer exposure elements flagged for review. A lower score indicates greater potential to review everyday exposure sources and essential element levels.

Because hair can reflect both what moves through your body and what it comes into contact with, your score is best read as a starting point, not a conclusion. It is not a measure of your health or a diagnosis of any condition. It is meant to inform, not advise.