Unleaded chickens

...Or, "One more thing to worry about."

Recently it was brought to my attention that chickens pecking around in the backyard of older homes can be a lead hazard. In particular, they like eating paint chips. Since reading this, I've noticed that our neighbor's garage has peeling paint, which I tested yesterday - positive for lead. For the past few days I've been obsessively researching lead, lead poisoning, lead uptake, and lead removal. I've learned a few things.

There haven't been many studies of this issue. One study (easily Googled) found that chickens that had been eating paint chips had lead in their egg yolks ranging from 20 ppb (parts per billion) to 440 ppb. There was no lead in the whites, but lead did concentrate in the shells (which we don't eat, but which I have been re-feeding to my chickens). So, what does that mean?

The FDA sets an acceptable limit for lead in candy that is frequently eaten by children. (The limit is in place because lead is so prevalent in our world that setting the limit at zero would be prohibitive). Their limit is .10 ppm (parts per million). In contrast, the most highly leaded egg in the egg study had .44 ppm, exceeding the FDA limit.

Lead is particularly a problem for children - in part because they absorb more lead, they retain it longer, and they are developing. Apparently 99% of the amount of lead absorbed in an adult’s body will leave the body through waste within a couple of weeks, while only 32% of the lead absorbed by children’s bodies leaves as waste.

It is interesting to note that average blood lead levels for both children and adults have dropped more than 80 percent since the late 1970s. "This is believed to be the result of removal of lead from gasoline as well as from other sources such as household paint, food and drink cans and plumbing systems."

In addition, proper nutrition provides protection against lead, which may be one reason that lead poisoning is prevalent in low-income neighborhoods where there is a combination of poor nutrition and peeling lead-based paint.

So am I worried? Sure. One study notes that "Elevated blood lead levels are associated with lower IQs, impaired growth and neurological development, and behavior problems." However, lead often doesn't produce any symptoms at all. Melina certainly doesn't have any of these symptoms, but I'm planning to get her lead levels tested anyway - something I should have done when she was younger anyway.

In addition, I've fenced off the area around my neighbor's peeling garage wall, so our chickens won't be tempted to dine on paint chips. I've looked into having the paint removed (safely), but it would cost around $800 so I want to know if we actually have a problem first. I'm considering getting a few eggs tested for lead - it costs $30 an egg. I doubt they would come out absolutely "clean" so at that point I would need to decide at what point the nutrition from a fresh egg balances out trace amounts of lead.

I have to say, all of this is just such a bummer. I love my chickens and I was so happy thinking that I was doing something so very healthy for my family. At this point, I haven't eaten one of their eggs in a couple of days. I think it's probably fine for Jeff and I to eat them, but I am hesitant to give them to Melina (although I suppose an egg-white omelet would be OK, since the lead is all in the yolks). Or maybe I'll just start making lots of meringues and Pavlovas until I know whether our eggs are safe to eat.