Results from lead tested egg

[Naz223]

I found out a couple months ago that my chickens were eating lead pellets from my back yard. So I sent one egg from each chicken to a lab in Seattle. Unfortunately, only 1 of 7 eggs made it there safe. BUT, it was from the chicken I had confirmed a "lead eater"

I have the results, but I can't make sense of them. Understand the results, but I can't seem to find the safe lead levels for food.

still searching, but thought I would try here.

 

[sunflour]

There are "normal" values for human blood, but I have no idea how to interpret your report. It would seem the lab who ran the test should be able to give you that information?

If not and no-one shows up here with a definitive answer - then I would contact your County Ag Agent - they can post the question to their Aviary/Poultry experts to help you decide what to do.

 

[biophiliac]

How Much Lead in Water is Too Much?
Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control suggests that blood lead concentrations over 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood (µg/dL) may indicate lead poisoning. Various studies have found that blood lead concentrations are positively and significantly related to the amount of lead in drinking water.

Accounting for other sources of lead exposure (e.g., food, dust), the U.S. EPA set the maximum allowable concentration of lead in public drinking water at 15 µg/L. (Many experts on lead toxicology believe the safe level should be 10 µg/L or less, but for purposes of this discussion we will use the EPA’s level of 15 µg/L.) Since lead serves no beneficial purpose in the human body, it is best if drinking water contains no lead. State drinking water standards must be at least as strict as the EPA drinking water standard of 15 µg/L.

The above was copied from the link below:
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-re...r-testing/pollutants/corrosive-water-problems




Hard to know how to translate your results to sensible advice. I don't think there are any levels of lead which would be considered safe for children. Wishing you luck with a difficult problem.

 

[biophiliac]

And GOOD ON YOU for pursuing this in the way you did! Now I wonder about the lead levels in the blood of the hens. Are they at risk of lead poisoning like birds of prey from lead bullets? Do those pellets get ground up in the gizzard?

 

[Seattlite]

I found out a couple months ago that my chickens were eating lead pellets from my back yard. So I sent one egg from each chicken to a lab in Seattle. Unfortunately, only 1 of 7 eggs made it there safe. BUT, it was from the chicken I had confirmed a "lead eater"

I have the results, but I can't make sense of them. Understand the results, but I can't seem to find the safe lead levels for food.

still searching, but thought I would try here.

I have the same concern. Where did you send your sample? There are kits sold on line to test lead level in drinking water - I have ordered two of these.