Furnace exhaust and paint lead questions

[egabriellew]

We have a smallish backyard in the heart of the city. Once our girls grew big they roosted on our yard table and chairs and left us lots of poopy presents. To prevent this we moved the coop to the side of the house and made a makeshift run accessible through a side door of the coop. I realized after getting them situated that our furnace exhaust blows near their coop. Not directly into it, but about 4 feet away. We keep them cooped when we are at work, and free when we are home to keep an eye on them. This means they’re about 4 foot from the exhaust most of the time. Think the gasses could be dangerous to them or get into their eggs in anyway?

Also, it dawned on me after we’ve had them for about 8 months that our soil tested high for lead about 4 years ago. So I got the eggs tested and sure enough they do have about double the lead count as eggs approved by the fda to sell. What I can find says unless eating an egg a day for an extended period of time, this should not be a problem. Thoughts on this?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
I'd think that you have pet chickens, and should buy eggs and not eat yours. Have you talked to any experts about this?
No level of lead is actually considered safe, as I understand it.
For the future, redo your coop and run so the chickens can't get into your contaminated soil or eat paint chips off your buildings.
Can you direct that exhaust away from the birds somehow? Baffle it, or block that area so they aren't directly in it's path.
When I grew up, nobody worried about lead very much, and it was everywhere! Not a good thing, but there it is. My blood level is now low but detectable, and I'd bet many of us 'old fogies' also have some present. Not a recommendation! Avoid it where ever possible.
Mary

 

[CindyinSD]

It may be the lead is the result of many years of furnace exhaust contaminating the soil. You might be able to have the furnace retrofitted to work with a catalytic converter and then bring in a load of top soil to cover the contaminated layer. Or you might need a new furnace—I’m betting on that last as the more likely scenario if the furnace is the cause. If the furnace IS the cause, I would replace it immediately. There’s no way you are not breathing a sufficient quantity of exhaust to harm you—IF the furnace is the cause.

OTOH, Lead is ubiquitous in the natural environment, depending on where you are. It’s a natural substance, after all, not unlike radon in people’s basements and naturally occurring cyanide ending up in fish. It may have nothing to do with the furnace at all. It could be in the fill dirt that may have been used to level your building or it could be natural to your location.

Natural doesn’t mean safe, though. I would stay away from eating those eggs, but I may be wrong. It certainly may also be the case that commercial eggs often contain more lead than allowed. One cannot test every egg.

Life is hazardous to your health. Have you heard that, in CA, nearly everything causes cancer, from soup to nuts? (That might be a light-hearted half-truth kind of a statement.) Lead is genuinely bad news all the same. It needs addressing.

 

[aart]

If the furnace exhaust is coming out the side of the house,
then it's a pretty new high efficiency furnace.
Not sure if lead would be in that exhaust,
or if it would contaminate the soil to that extent.

 

[DobieLover]

Lead would not be a component of the furnace gas fumes. CO (carbon monoxide) would be.

There are code rules that dictate how the exhaust must exit the house in relation to windows and doors. You could add a riser to your exhaust to vent it higher above where the chickens area is but you'd have to get a hold of the manual for your furnace to ensure you don't exceed the exhaust pipe length. You would also need to elbow it to prevent rain from getting into the vent. And put a bird screen on it.

As for the contaminated soil, really the only thing you could do to mitigate that is to excavate it out (down about 1 foot) then bring in uncontaminated soil to replace it. That's an expensive undertaking but maybe not too bad by just doing the area of the confined run and then not letting them out of the run.

 

[aart]

Lead would not be a component of the furnace gas fumes. CO (carbon monoxide) would be.

Thanks, I doubted it but wasn't sure.

I wouldn't bother messing with the exhaust @egabriellew

Also, it dawned on me after we’ve had them for about 8 months that our soil tested high for lead about 4 years ago.

Curious, why you tested the soil?
..and was the source of the lead in the soil ascertained at that time?
You mention paint in your thread title...
... is that were it came from, old paint scraped off an old house?

 

[Old-clucker-55]

I believe the code is 3 foot from windows. The exhaust is designed to slope back to the furnace and drain any condensation that is in the pipes.The birds should be ok there.

 

[egabriellew]

Thanks, I doubted it but wasn't sure.

I wouldn't bother messing with the exhaust @egabriellew
Curious, why you tested the soil?
..and was the source of the lead in the soil ascertained at that time?
You mention paint in your thread title...
... is that were it came from, old paint scraped off an old house?

We had the whole house and backyard tested when my then 3 year old tested high for lead. The house is 130 years old and it is assumed years of rehabbing and yes, old paint, are the cause. We covered and repainted all exterior windows and sills.