University of California Egg Study

[ronott1]

Here are my results. No fires but higher Lead level than the two of you. City living = lead paint in soils?


Lead: The average level of lead found in your eggs was 0.61 micrograms per 57 gram egg. Based on this, the average adult would not be at risk for exceeding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s maximum daily intake (called the Interim Reference Level) of lead for adults (12.5 micrograms per day). A child would have to eat approximately 5 eggs on a daily basis to exceed the Interim Reference Level for children (3 micrograms per day). Please note that these threshold levels are set nearly ten-times less than the actual amount of intake of lead from food required to reach the Center for Disease Control's blood reference level for lead.

Cadmium:The average level of cadmium found in your eggs was 0.15 micrograms per 57 gram egg. Based on this value, you are at no significant risk of exceeding the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) threshold of cadmium associated with reproductive harm (4.1 micrograms per day) or the OEHHA Oral Reference Dose Level for cadmium consumption in food (1 microgram per kilogram of body weight).

Nickel: The levels of nickel detected in all eggs submitted to our study were significantly below the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) daily threshold for nickel consumption associated with cancer risk (5 micrograms of nickel per pound of body weight).

Copper: The average level of copper found in your eggs was 24.3 micrograms per 57 gram egg. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s safe consumption threshold is 4.54 micrograms per pound of body weight per day. For a 155lb person, they would not be at any significant risk of exceeding this threshold. If you would like to calculate the approximate number of eggs you would have to eat on a daily basis in order to exceed this threshold, you would multiply your body weight in pounds by 4.54, then divide by the level of copper found in your eggs. To give an example calculation, if someone weighed 155lbs and the average level of copper found in their eggs was 30 micrograms, they would perform the following calculation: (155×4.54)÷30=23.5 Therefore, the person in this example would have to eat approximately 23 eggs daily in order to exceed the threshold.


Mercury: The average level of mercury found in your eggs was 0.17 micrograms per 57 gram egg. California’s Prop 65 threshold for mercury consumption associated with cancer risks is 0.07 micrograms per pound of body weight per day. For a 155lb person, they would not be at any significant risk of exceeding this threshold. If you would like to calculate the approximate number of eggs you would have to eat on a daily basis to exceed this threshold, you would multiply your body weight in pounds by 0.07, then divide by the level of mercury found in your eggs. For example, if someone weighed 155lbs and the average level of mercury found in their eggs was 0.6 micrograms, they would perform the following calculation: (155×0.07) ÷0.6=18.1 Therefore, the person in this example would have to eat approximately 18 eggs daily in order to exceed that threshold.


Arsenic: The average level of arsenic found in the eggs you submitted to our lab was below the detection limit and thus is not currently a concern.

It could be!

There was a thread a while back with sick chickens. It turned out to be lead poisoning from an old shed that had, I think, paint chips blown off from the wind. Even though lead paint has been banned since the 70s, Lead is still a very common heavy metal poison.

 

[The Brick Coop]

Very interesting, thank you (catching up). Did the person looking for fungus information find help? Perhaps it was about fungus toxins in stored grain. Our flock had a big problem with that last year--it suppressed fertility and I think caused a couple deaths. My testing was for a contagion, not for mold toxins. Two wasted away, then I switched feed because I started to notice more than usual a bit of white dust in the otherwise dry feed though it did not smell moldy. Then I could not find online where to submit feed samples at first. Then I found out (state lab) long after I had switched anyway from local mill to Purina and appetites and fertility came back up. The feed needed to be collected and submitted as early as received, but my feed sample was old already so I did not submit it. The last two years were wet for corn in the East.

 

[ronott1]

Very interesting, thank you (catching up). Did the person looking for fungus information find help? Perhaps it was about fungus toxins in stored grain. Our flock had a big problem with that last year--it suppressed fertility and I think caused a couple deaths. My testing was for a contagion, not for mold toxins. Two wasted away, then I switched feed because I started to notice more than usual a bit of white dust in the otherwise dry feed though it did not smell moldy. Then I could not find online where to submit feed samples at first. Then I found out (state lab) long after I had switched anyway from local mill to Purina and appetites and fertility came back up. The feed needed to be collected and submitted as early as received, but my feed sample was old already so I did not submit it. The last two years were wet for corn in the East.

It is very important to find out the milling date of the grain used in the feed too. That can be hard to do though!

 

[PDXJULES]

I read a news story about an egg Study to see if backyard chicken eggs are picking up toxins and poisons in backyard chicken flocks from the environment.

Backyard Chicken Egg Study

Live in California? Have backyard chickens?

Then we want you to participate in our backyard chicken egg study!
The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (UCD SVM) is providing free egg contaminant testing for backyard chicken owners in the state of California. We are testing eggs for two different types of contaminants, depending on what county you live in.

Results will be shared individually with each owner, and cumulative results will be summarized and made available to the general public.

http://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/Egg_Contaminant_Testing/

I have decided to join the Study by sending in a sample!

This thread is for documenting the journey.

omg - SOME OF THE LEAD AND MERCURY LEVELS ARE DANGEROUS. I wonder if there are ways to get results in other cities?

 

[PDXJULES]

I made it to the drop off place today!
;p;/

This gave me an image of the Beverly Hillbillies on a similar mission, LOL

 

[ronott1]

omg - SOME OF THE LEAD AND MERCURY LEVELS ARE DANGEROUS. I wonder if there are ways to get results in other cities?

Other than this UC Davis project, I have not seen an easy way to get eggs tested. It would be useful! I have seen posts where a flock has high lead levels from eating paint chips with lead in it.

 

[ronott1]

This gave me an image of the Beverly Hillbillies on a similar mission, LOL

It was different carrying egg cartons up the stairs to the office to drop off the eggs!

It was on the fifth or sixth floor as I recall