Lead worries?!?!

[DobieLover]

I’ll post a link to a few of the articles that I read. There were a few peer reviewed journal articles detailing lead in oyster shell, but I had read enough at that point to convince myself that it could be true.

Two of the articles cited that found Pb in eggs concluded the Pb source was the soil the birds were kept on.
One of the articles cited found that the birds were exposed to Pb-based paint.
The article discussing the accumulation of Pb in oyster shells was indicating that oysters could be used as a biomarker for Pb contamination in the oceanic sediment the oysters inhabit in the wild.
Most of the oyster shells that are available for Ca supplementation come from farm raised oysters, oysters that would not have been exposed to Pb.
If you do not have Pb contaminated soil that your chickens are on or Pb-based paint your chickens have access to, I think the big debate over the dangers of Pb accumulation in your chickens eggs, you and your children is over.

 

[Shellebelle920]

Two of the articles cited that found Pb in eggs concluded the Pb source was the soil the birds were kept on.
One of the articles cited found that the birds were exposed to Pb-based paint.
The article discussing the accumulation of Pb in oyster shells was indicating that oysters could be used as a biomarker for Pb contamination in the oceanic sediment the oysters inhabit in the wild.
Most of the oyster shells that are available for Ca supplementation come from farm raised oysters, oysters that would not have been exposed to Pb.
If you do not have Pb contaminated soil that your chickens are on or Pb-based paint your chickens have access to, I think the big debate over the dangers of Pb accumulation in your chickens eggs, you and your children is over.

Sure. My intent was not to start a debate more so to figure out if there are alternative calcium sources. There are many more articles detailing the relationship between oyster shells and heavy metal exposure... I just don’t have the time to search them out and post them here. But they are scholarly articles and ones that I would trust. I guess the question would be not if there is lead in oysters shells but how much and how if/does it affect the quality the Egg. How would I know that farm raised oysters do not contain lead or any heavy metals? Where are they sourcing their water? If the amounts are minimal, then there are no concerns obviously. I do intend to have my eggs tested once the chickens begin to lay. I plan on using oyster shell for a few months and then testing. I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but I don’t think that lead exposure is something to shrug off either.

 

[DobieLover]

Sure. My intent was not to start a debate more so to figure out if there are alternative calcium sources. There are many more articles detailing the relationship between oyster shells and heavy metal exposure... I just don’t have the time to search them out and post them here. But they are scholarly articles and ones that I would trust. I guess the question would be not if there is lead in oysters shells but how much and how if/does it affect the quality the Egg. How would I know that farm raised oysters do not contain lead or any heavy metals? Where are they sourcing their water? If the amounts are minimal, then there are no concerns obviously. I do intend to have my eggs tested once the chickens begin to lay. I plan on using oyster shell for a few months and then testing. I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but I don’t think that lead exposure is something to shrug off either.

You can have your soil samples where the chickens are housed and your bag of oyster shell tested right now. I guess the point I'm trying to make is if you are that concerned about your kids being exposed to Pb from BYC eggs, test the possible sources that would contaminate the chickens. If it's there, nix the chickens and buy store bought eggs.

 

[blackdog043]

If it's there, nix the chickens and buy store bought eggs.

And get the store bought eggs tested as well, just to see what the results are. Please come back and update your thread, if you get eggs and oyster shell tested.

 

[Folly's place]

The city lot I grew up on must have been contaminated near the buildings, all of which had many many coats of (lead) paint applied over decades, which chipped off and was scraped before each new coat of paint was applied. Nobody thought anything about it, all normal for the time. Fortunately our little veggie garden was slightly away from these buildings, but still...
Mary

 

[Shellebelle920]

You can have your soil samples where the chickens are housed and your bag of oyster shell tested right now. I guess the point I'm trying to make is if you are that concerned about your kids being exposed to Pb from BYC eggs, test the possible sources that would contaminate the chickens. If it's there, nix the chickens and buy store bought eggs.

You can have your soil samples where the chickens are housed and your bag of oyster shell tested right now. I guess the point I'm trying to make is if you are that concerned about your kids being exposed to Pb from BYC eggs, test the possible sources that would contaminate the chickens. If it's there, nix the chickens and buy store bought eggs.

i will most likely get the eggs tested. If they come back with minimal levels then there would be no reason to test the oyster shells or soil. I’m thinking that will most likely be the case, but I’d rather be on the sure side.

 

[springvalley123]

i will most likely get the eggs tested. If they come back with minimal levels then there would be no reason to test the oyster shells or soil. I’m thinking that will most likely be the case, but I’d rather be on the sure side.

I'd think that the kids playing in the soil would be a far greater exposure to them than any amount of eggs they ate, from chickens living on that same soil. You might want a few soil samples of various areas of your property to establish the safest kids play area if you're concerned. Also if the levels are unsafe, the area could/should be a superfund cleanup site--i.e., the whole neighborhood might be in the same boat.

 

[123RedBeard]

Limestone is basically "calcium" ... and used as a supplement ... and it could also be tested for pb ...

 

[Al Gerhart]

Back in the late 2000's I worked with a bunch of scientists testing granite countertop materials for radiation hazards. Some types and some slabs or granite were crazy radioactive, the record slab found was hundreds and hundreds times hotter than normal background radiation levels and there were plenty of types and slabs in local slab yards that were five, six, even ten times background radiation levels. Studies were done on the radon gas and there were homes found that had high levels of radon gas due to the nuclear decay chain in the granite and after removal the levels dropped back to normal for the area. For the most part granite turned out reasonably alright if you were lucky and didn't get a super hot slab installed in your kitchen.

But, as we were studying this issue we were using email threads with two or three dozen scientists contributing and one dude was a uranium geologist who mentioned that Uranium wasn't the only heavy metal present in granite.

Fast forward about nine months, a three ton shipment of granite samples owned by Silestone had been sent to Israel for testing and the deal fell through on the testing so Silestone shipped the samples to me. I loaded about a ton of them into a truck and ran them up to a geologist in Colorado Springs CO and had them XRF gun tested. Holy moly, those granite samples were loaded with all sorts of heavy metals including massive amounts of lead. Cadium, chromium, arsenic, all of the radioactive decay chain products which was to be expected.

Many heavy metals aren't "bio available" in their native state. Like Iron, not much iron is found in nature as pure iron because oxygen eats it up and coverts it into rust. People read sci fi stories about an exotic planet with a corrosive atmosphere, well that would be earth believe it or not. Oxygen is highly corrosive. So where a heavy metal has been exposed in an ore (chicken grit is an example) the heavy metal might be oxidized enough to be unavailable due to the oxidation. Or a surface layer has been oxidized and the underlying element is still quite toxic and bio available. You just never know.

What we learned was that many things can reverse the oxidation. Moisture, oil from a pair of human hands or skin, cleaning products like soap, changes in the alkaline state (changes in pH), but ingestion was the quickest and most sure change factor. Stomachs have acid so the pH changes rapidly and severely and that is why little Billy eating paint chips is not a good thing.

Same with your chickens. The grit you purchase or that the birds pick up is far more likely to have lead and other toxic heavy metals than the oyster shell you feed them. Pollution is solved for the most part by dilution, the heavy metals will concentrate in something that eats a lot of toxic elements which is why predator species usually accumulate more toxic heavy metals than the prey species that pick up the toxins from vegetation or eating soil for minerals.

If you are worried about lead, go buy a lead test kit from a big box store or order a few online. Test the grit, oyster shell, or dirt and while not completely reliable it will show a result if you have mass contamination.

And don't put food on granite countertops even if you recently cleaned the top! The stuff is bacteria haven too with bacterial living inside the granite, something found a mile below the surface of the earth and from samples taken in biological secure fashion that prevented contamination. Granite is teeming with bacteria and most people aren't aware of that.

 

[boskelli1571]

If you are concerned about this, have your vet test blood levels in your birds. You can also enquire about getting eggs checked for lead content.
I highly doubt that there will be significant findings unless you live in an urban area where pollution is or was a problem.