Most hoses contain lead. WTF?
From a May 2003 Consumer Reports, which also has a list of safe hoses (at least as of 2003):
We tested 16 new hoses, brands sold at national chains and on the Internet. Four were labeled safe for drinking; six had warning labels. The remaining six weren’t labeled either way.
The four hoses labeled safe for drinking typically contained less lead in their construction than the others. In our tests, those hoses leached minuscule amounts of lead into water that had been standing in the hose for 20 hours or more. We measured concentrations well below 15 parts per billion, the level in drinking water at which the Environmental Protection Agency requires remedial action. In fact, tap water contained as much lead as some samples. (The time the water stands in the hose, water temperature and acidity all affect the amount of lead leaching.) Hoses containing the highest amounts of lead, only two of which carried a "do not drink" label, leached 10 to 100 times allowable lead levels in the first draw of standing water.
However, even extremely low levels of lead may cause health problems. A recent study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that lead levels in the blood even lower than the current definition of toxicity may adversely affect a child’s IQ. [And a dog's? Lord knows we don't want Tina to lose any IQ points.]
The bottom line. When you buy a hose, choose one labeled safe for drinking. With any hose, flush it by letting the water run for a minute or so before you drink.
This label signifies that the hose contains lead:
This warning was on a hose we just bought last week. I specifically bought a more expensive brand thinking that it would be better quality and therefore last longer and be better for the environment. Sucker.
See also Wise Geek's What is a Lead-Free Garden Hose?
6 comments:
It's a big deal here in Arizona. Especially because it is so hot, and there are so many people who work in lawn maintenance and design. There are also issues with drinking bottled water after it has sat in a hot car for day. I tell ya.
Hoo, I know about the issues of drinking from a water bottle after it's been in a hot car all day. At least it was a good jump-start to my diet, I guess.
I believe the Atomic Energy Commission mandated lead for garden hoses back in the 1950s so that we'd be able to water our gardens after a nuclear attack. Don't want radiated water on our prizewinning geraniums. Of course, as soon as the Red Menace found out about that, they declared that there will never be a "lead-waterhose gap," and proceeded to make their garden hoses out of 1"-thick lead piping.
If you're looking for stuff to worry about, I'd be more concerned about kids developing mineral deficiencies from drinking bottled water. All that "pure" stuff you're paying more than gasoline for doesn't have any magnesium, sodium, or trace minerals that you find in good old tap water. Also, you need to know the distinction between "bottled" and "spring" water: the latter has to come from a natural spring, while the former is almost always municipal tap water run through a filter. And by "filter" I mean "nothing."
AJS, you are so many shades of awesome, you really are.
I'd heard about that, and also that fluoride in drinking water gives our sons cancer or somesuch. You can't win.
The deal with the fluoride is that since all the kids are drinking unfluoridated bottled water, the tooth decay rate's gone through the freaking roof. I'm no fan of the ADA, but I'll take their word over "holisticmed.com."
Charmin toilet paper, however, does in fact give you cancer of the butthole.
Jeebus.
And here I thought letting Max water our flowers was a nice healthy activity. And I have a case of bottled water in my car. Yikes.
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