*DEBUNKED* Toxic Levels of Lead in Black Rubber Feed Bowl Water, 30 mg/L, 2000 Times EPA Limits

[Life of Eric]

I'm no genius here and certainly not an expert, but if your testing the well water out of a rubber bowl. Wouldn't you want to test your well water first to aquire a baseline level?

Unless I missed that...

Believe me, I'm no genius either, but I was testing Rain water in that bowl using a Well Water test strip.

 

[aart]

The guy, me, did mention this water ran off a metal chicken coop roof, which has green enamel on it and is about 4 years old.
Please test your bowls, that's all I'm asking, because I don't want you or your family to ingest any lead that might be passed on to you thru chicken eggs or milk from animals using these bowls.

Needs to be tested again with rain not coming off of any roof, just straight from the sky. ...and maybe same rainfall caught in a glass and/or other materials too. One test does not quantify.

 

[BantyChooks]

Needs to be tested again with rain not coming off of any roof, just straight from the sky. ...and maybe same rainfall caught in a glass and/or other materials too. One test does not quantify.

^ Agreed, the roof is what catches my attention first. Still, worrisome either way.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Believe me, I'm no genius either, but I was testing Rain water in that bowl using a Well Water test strip.

Ahhhh. There it is.

Carry on...

 

[FunClucks]

Needs to be tested again with rain not coming off of any roof, just straight from the sky. ...and maybe same rainfall caught in a glass and/or other materials too. One test does not quantify.

To be fair, if he tested the water the chickens were regularly drinking, and it came off a roof into the bowl for the chickens, that test would be valid for his chickens because he's using the water from that setup to water his chickens.

For the rest of us, yes, testing water out of a hose that goes in the bowl, if that's how we fill it, and then water out of the hose into a glass as a control, then water out of the sink in our house, would all be good things to compare and test.

Water direct from the sky into the bowl and into a glass container, and then compare those two results will tell you about the lead that gets into the water from the actual rubber bowl. But I'm thinking about what gets into my chickens from the total process.

 

[BantyChooks]

To be fair, if he tested the water the chickens were regularly drinking, and it came off a roof into the bowl for the chickens, that test would be valid for his chickens because he's using the water from that setup to water his chickens.

For the rest of us, yes, testing water out of a hose that goes in the bowl, if that's how we fill it, and then water out of the hose into a glass as a control, then water out of the sink in our house, would all be good things to compare and test.

Water direct from the sky into the bowl and into a glass container, and then compare those two results will tell you about the lead that gets into the water from the actual rubber bowl. But I'm thinking about what gets into my chickens from the total process.

Yep - no matter where it came from, it's concerning and good on OP for catching the issue.

 

[Life of Eric]

Just to clarify some more, hopefully with out digressing too much...
My chickens are watered using a Brute food safe trash can which feeds a PVC pipe and Nipple watering system.
That rubber bowl hung out in my coop and was mainly used for when temps got below freezing, and I'd put it on one of those water bowl warming plates and turn off the PVC system to prevent damage.
The bowl was dry for about a week, no rain, then it rained on Sunday which caught about an inch of rain water.
I then saw the other persons video and decided to test the water in the bowl using some well water test strips that I had on hand.
I am happy to test this in any way that folks think is helpful, but I would strongly recommend you to test your own bowls for Lead and any other chemicals that can leach from recycled rubber.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I was alerted about this from another YouTube video where he mentioned a family with back yard chickens who were tested with high amounts of lead in their blood. The culprit was lead leaching from those black rubber feed bowls, then being passed thru the eggs into the family.
I tested one of my bowls which was empty in my coop until it rained today and it caught about an inch of water.
The video is linked here.
I used standard well water test strips and got a reading of 30 mg/L. Per the EPA the Alert Level is 0.015 mg/L.
My results were 2000 Times the EPA Limit.
I encourage you to do your own testing and report the results. I would also encourage you not to use these bowls for watering any of your animals.
Please share this info, and I can't believe these items are being sold almost everywhere.

Almost everything made of rubber that comes from China is high in lead.

 

[SourRoses]

Maybe once, until you clean the top, then not so much. Any sealer thick enough to provide a barrier would mark up with the slightest use.

Most, not all, granite tops are loaded with lead.

I checked with my mother who co-owned a construction company way back when and she said a top layer of wax might clean off, but the proper sealant is quite tough and necessary because granite is a bit porous and anything made on it would get embedded and gross.
Not to argue with you, just for the record that the typical home granite countertop should be safe, although people should test their own to make sure!

 

[Molpet]

Thank you for the heads up. I'll have to get some tests