corn/soy free poultry fed fishmeal

[U_Stormcrow]

No, you're reading conclusions incorrectly. It's a totality for eggs laid over a 52 week time period, not each individual egg.

No, that's not right either. I'm actually not sure where the OP got 70 ppm from from, which I simply repeated (accepting it as accurate - my error). PPM is a RATIO. So is PPB. It is not a weight. and in this case, its an averaged ratio of multiple measurements.

Full text is here. And there's some sloppy math, I'm not adopting this conclusion as my own.

from 2178 (begins left column):
The respective average concentrations in the yolks of all eggs analyzed were 16 and 15 p.p.b. The shells of the eggs analyzed contained an average of 12 p.p.b. regardless of which herring meal was fed to the layers. The concentration of Hg in the eggs laid did not increase with the length of time during which herring meals were fed.
During the first 12 weeks of the experiment the average concentrations of Hg in the albumen of the eggs laid by the birds fed the two herring meals were 45 and 40 p.p.b. and the comparative value during the final 12 weeks were 48 and 37 p.p.b., respectively.
Albumen and yolk of eggs laid by the birds receiving the soybean meal contained less than 10 p.p.b. of Hg on a wet-weight basis.

In short, multiply the weight in hand of "something" (yolk, albumin, shell, feathers, breast meat, whatever) by the average PPB of mercury concentration they measured in that "something" and you have the estimated weight of mercury in that "something".

They pretty consistently found around 70 PPB Mg in the breast meat of most of the white leghorns they measured. So if you had 1 kg. of breast meat from white leghorns on that diet, it would contain an estimated 0.070 mg of Mercury in total (70 ppb * 1 kg). If you cut that portion of breast meat in half, each would contain an estimated. 0.035 Mercury. Cut each of those in half, and the four pieces would be estimated to contain 0.018 (rounded up) Mercury. Simple.

 

[Sic]

Most fish and shellfish contain trace amounts of methylmercury. Also the mercury level in fish is recorded in parts per million, .17 and .22 ppm - the mercury in the eggs is recorded in parts per billion. There is very little trace amounts of mercury in an egg laid by chickens eating fish/fishmeal or crab/crab meal, etc with low levels of mercury. The meat carcass of the chicken mercury accumulation was also negligible. It isn't enough mercury to have concern over, even if you eat several eggs and chickens per day for years/decades.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^^ yes, that.

 

[Sic]

No, that's not right either. I'm actually not sure where the OP got 70 ppm from from, which I simply repeated (accepting it as accurate - my error). PPM is a RATIO. So is PPB. It is not a weight. and in this case, its an averaged ratio of multiple measurements.

Full text is here. And there's some sloppy math, I'm not adopting this conclusion as my own.

from 2178 (begins left column):
The respective average concentrations in the yolks of all eggs analyzed were 16 and 15 p.p.b. The shells of the eggs analyzed contained an average of 12 p.p.b. regardless of which herring meal was fed to the layers. The concentration of Hg in the eggs laid did not increase with the length of time during which herring meals were fed.
During the first 12 weeks of the experiment the average concentrations of Hg in the albumen of the eggs laid by the birds fed the two herring meals were 45 and 40 p.p.b. and the comparative value during the final 12 weeks were 48 and 37 p.p.b., respectively.
Albumen and yolk of eggs laid by the birds receiving the soybean meal contained less than 10 p.p.b. of Hg on a wet-weight basis.

In short, multiply the weight in hand of "something" (yolk, albumin, shell, feathers, breast meat, whatever) by the average PPB of mercury concentration they measured in that "something" and you have the estimated weight of mercury in that "something".

They pretty consistently found around 70 PPB Mg in the breast meat of most of the white leghorns they measured. So if you had 1 kg. of breast meat from white leghorns on that diet, it would contain an estimated 0.070 mg of Mercury in total (70 ppb * 1 kg). If you cut that portion of breast meat in half, each would contain an estimated. 0.035 Mercury. Cut each of those in half, and the four pieces would be estimated to contain 0.018 (rounded up) Mercury. Simple.

Maybe I'm reading the charts incorrectly, but it would appear that the caged WL (control??) fed soybean meal also had 70ppb in the breast tissue?

 

[learningaboutpoutry]

Most fish and shellfish contain trace amounts of methylmercury. Also the mercury level in fish is recorded in parts per million, .17 and .22 ppm - the mercury in the eggs is recorded in parts per billion. There is very little trace amounts of mercury in an egg laid by chickens eating fish/fishmeal or crab/crab meal, etc with low levels of mercury. The meat carcass of the chicken mercury accumulation was also negligible. It isn't enough mercury to have concern over, even if you eat several eggs and chickens per day for years/decades.

I was comparing it to ppb in tuna, not ppm since the study is done in ppb. canned tuna is not recommended more than 2x a week and canned tuna has 180 ppb. my concern was the eggs in the study showed a little less than half that, and the liver of chickens well over that. Somebody said it was all eggs collected over a certain period of time (but I don't see where it says that) so if that's true it would be much different but then what about the kidney and liver and meat? Kidney is listed as twice as much a can of tuna ppb.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I was comparing it to ppb in tuna, not ppm since the study is done in ppb. canned tuna is not recommended more than 2x a week and canned tuna has 180 ppb. my concern was the eggs in the study showed a little less than half that, and the liver of chickens well over that. Somebody said it was all eggs collected over a certain period of time so if that's true it would be much different but then what about the kidney and liver and meat? Kidney is listed as twice as much a can of tuna ppb. I guess what I am not understanding is the weight they are measuring. For example leg meat is listed as much as 130 ppb, but how much leg meat?

Your math teachers did you wrong. Your whole school system.

PPM is a Ratio. It tells you NOTHING about weight. Its tells you how much of "something" is part of a greater whole.

Now, we can use those relationships to get you the answer you seem to want. And we will do it relative to a can of tuna.

Quick math here.

Not more than 2 cans of tuna per week. Typical tuna can is 5 oz. So, not more than 10 oz canned tuna per week (2 x 5).

The eggs in that study, getting a feed that no one uses, had (according to you) "almost half as much" mercury as tuna. ( 10 oz / 1/2 ) = 20 oz. 1 oz is about 28g, and one medium large egg is about 55 g. 20 oz * 28g / 55 g/egg = about 10 medium large eggs per week**.

Kidneys of chickens on that feed no one uses had about "twice as much" mercury as tuna. 10 oz / 2 = 5 oz of chicken kidneys per week.

If canned tuna is 180 ppb and chicken leg meat on that crazy diet no one uses is 130 ppb, and you are allowed 10 oz of tuna per week due to its mercury content, then 10 oz * 180 ppm / 130 ppm is the equivalent weight of checken leg meat allowed. About 13.85 oz. Assuming you aren't buying boneless legs, a chicken leg is about 70% meat, 30% bone, on average. 13.85 / 0.7 = about 20 oz of skinless chicken legs in the package.

**I didn't correct for the weight of the egg shell. You can do that if you want. The shell is typically 10-11% of an egg's total weight.

Fire your school system.

 

[learningaboutpoutry]

Your math teachers did you wrong. Your whole school system.

PPM is a Ratio. It tells you NOTHING about weight. Its tells you how much of "something" is part of a greater whole.

Now, we can use those relationships to get you the answer you seem to want. And we will do it relative to a can of tuna.

Quick math here.

Not more than 2 cans of tuna per week. Typical tuna can is 5 oz. So, not more than 10 oz canned tuna per week (2 x 5).

The eggs in that study, getting a feed that no one uses, had (according to you) "almost half as much" mercury as tuna. ( 10 oz / 1/2 ) = 20 oz. 1 oz is about 28g, and one medium large egg is about 55 g. 20 oz * 28g / 55 g/egg = about 10 medium large eggs per week**.

Kidneys of chickens on that feed no one uses had about "twice as much" mercury as tuna. 10 oz / 2 = 5 oz of chicken kidneys per week.

If canned tuna is 180 ppb and chicken leg meat on that crazy diet no one uses is 130 ppb, and you are allowed 10 oz of tuna per week due to its mercury content, then 10 oz * 180 ppm / 130 ppm is the equivalent weight of checken leg meat allowed. About 13.85 oz. Assuming you aren't buying boneless legs, a chicken leg is about 70% meat, 30% bone, on average. 13.85 / 0.7 = about 20 oz of skinless chicken legs in the package.

**I didn't correct for the weight of the egg shell. You can do that if you want. The shell is typically 10-11% of an egg's total weight.

Fire your school system.

Why be so rude about this? I am mostly pescatarian and have had mercury high enough to cause very unpleasant symptoms. Due to emergency abdominal surgery fish is the most digestible protein for me My mercury went almost to normal when I just ate sockeye and cut out the snow crab even though I was eating only an ounce to two of crab per day. My mom just explained it is concentration that is why I edited my post. From her understanding of the article she said the mercury is still a problem in the egg and liver. Herring has the same amount of mercury concentration if not less than crab from articles I've read. Many feeds ingredients include crab meal and fishmeal (hard to know what kind of fish, sometimes its farmed catfish, others say sardines). The research article says they were fed low amounts over time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Many feeds ingredients include crab meal and fishmeal (hard to know what kind of fish, sometimes its farmed catfish, others say sardines).

But when you buy chicken or eggs, you don't know how much fish meal, or crab meal (or as you correctly observed, even what kind of fish, often) was used in the feed [or whether they were raised in high mercury environments], or even if a a feed with fish/crab meal is being used at all.

Nor is a commercially formulated feed deliberately crafted for such a high mercury content as what was used in that study.

So you can't really assume anything about the mercury content in chicken (or their eggs), based on a single old study - because its completely irrelevant to the way most chicken is raised commercially. Like talking about the lead content of gasoline in a modern Porsche.

Now, if you have a friend raising chickens for you, or you are doing it yourself, you can inquire of the feed mfg, see what they tell you - I can tell you that animal proteins are expensive compared to plant proteins. Feed Mfgs are going to use as little as possible (if any at all). If they can't answer, or won't answer, and its crtitically important to you, change feeds.

 

[Sic]

I was comparing it to ppb in tuna, not ppm since the study is done in ppb. canned tuna is not recommended more than 2x a week and canned tuna has 180 ppb. my concern was the eggs in the study showed a little less than half that, and the liver of chickens well over that. Somebody said it was all eggs collected over a certain period of time (but I don't see where it says that) so if that's true it would be much different but then what about the kidney and liver and meat? Kidney is listed as twice as much a can of tuna ppb.

Source on the 180 ppb in tuna? On average, canned white tuna has .328 ppm of mercury. The safety level of mercury in fish is 1 ppm.
1 ppb = 0.0000001%
1 ppb = 0.001 ppm
1 ppm is 0.0001 % or 1mg/kg or 1µg/g so the concentration of mercury in tuna is .328µg/g. It's recommended not to consume more than 1.5 micrograms methylmercury per kilogram of your body weight per week. So if you take the average 300ppb in kidney tissue in this study, that is .3 ppm or .3µg/g, about similar concentration as the tuna, also not many people eat chicken kidneys from research chickens fed a high ratio of fishmeal.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has set 0.5 ppm and 0.7 µg/kg as traces for mercury and methyl mercury, respectively. Based on Provisional Tolerance Weekly Intake set by JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO), PTWI is 5 for mercury and 1.6 µg/kg b.w. for methyl mercury.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

1 ppm is equal to 1microgram/kg

Price check on Aisle 1???

I believe 1 ppb is one µg/Kg.

Am I in the wrong aisle, or was that a typo??? so easy to misplace a decimal or two with numbers at this scale. I've done it more than once, certainly.