Recent tests of 18 iron supplements showed problems with two products, including one sold at Duane Reade stores that contained unhealthful levels of lead, according to ConsumerLab.com, a White Plains-based evaluator of health products.

Tests showed that Duane Reade Time Release Iron 50 milligrams contained 0.6 micrograms of lead, a level that exceeds safety standards set by California, the only government in the nation that has set a lead limit, according to Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com.

Cooperman said it isn’t likely that products from Duane Reade would be sold in the Golden State, since all Duane Reade’s 242 stores are in the New York City metropolitan area, including six in Westchester. The company does, however, sell the product via its Internet site, DuaneReade.com.

Nevertheless, Cooperman said, in the absence of a limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ConsumerLab.com relies on the California standard for its testing.

California’s limit is a good one, Cooperman said. “So we hold all supplements, regardless of where they are sold, to that standard.”

The other problem product ConsumerLab.com encountered was Vitron-C High Potency Iron Plus Vitamin C, which, tests showed, contained just 37 percent of the nutritional iron claimed on its label. The supplement is widely sold, including at well-known Internet retailers, such as Amazon.com.

Iron supplements are popular with U.S. consumers, racking up some $237 million in sales in 2006, Cooperman said.

ConsumerLab.com’s full report on iron supplements is available to subscribers of its Web site.