31–40 of 192 posts
This is because food cannot be heavily processed without some heavy metals leeching in, according to a food safety guy who is a long time friend.
It is completely mind boggling we let that happen.
I live with children in a very old house. I would love to be able to measure my children's lead exposure and check things like window paint or house dust for lead content to see how big a problem there is. How do I do that?
There are test kits for at-home usecases like paint and stuff - I think they're pretty reliable. For exposure, you can get blood tests at your GP. They might be absurdly expensive if you're in America, but maybe next time you travel to Europe you can pay privately and get a better deal.
So, I don't even know if it's expensive or not.
Did you know, the world still mines more lead now than it did 50 years ago, at the peak of 'put lead in everything' mania? To me, this says that we still put lead in too many things. Lead is still used for flashing in roofs. It's still used as a mould release when making plastics. It's still used in making dishware. It's still used in bullets. It's still used for all kinds of things which will one day end up in the e…
There's a "acceptable minimum level of lead" in most processed foods such as baby food. This is because food cannot be heavily processed without some heavy metals leeching in, according to a food safety guy who is a long time friend. It is completely mind boggling we let that happen.
Do you think it should be 0? 0.0000 ppb? No detectable lead whatsoever? What do you do if detection technology improves and the minimum detectable level decreases?
Even if you go live totally off the grid with your child and grow your own vegetables in your backyard with completely natural ingredients, you will still end up with some level of lead - which is a natural ingredient itself, after all.
At some point, you have to set a threshold and say that any lead below this level is not worth the cost of removing it or avoiding it. Would you pay 10x more for baby food at a 1 ppb level instead of 10 ppb? Do you think that would produce a net benefit for society?
I live with children in a very old house. I would love to be able to measure my children's lead exposure and check things like window paint or house dust for lead content to see how big a problem there is. How do I do that?
There's a "acceptable minimum level of lead" in most processed foods such as baby food. This is because food cannot be heavily processed without some heavy metals leeching in, according to a food safety guy who is a long time friend. It is completely mind boggling we let that happen.
The “action levels” of lead in food (fruits and vegetables, etc) are 10 parts per BILLION, and stuff less than that is considered acceptable, because otherwise freaking everything would test positive because food grows in dirt which contains minerals from rocks.
Lead has higher allowable levels in things like nuts, again because they are grown in the dirt and have a lot of minerals. I think peanuts and stuff have 100-900ppb lead. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12011-024-044...
There's a "acceptable minimum level of lead" in most processed foods such as baby food. This is because food cannot be heavily processed without some heavy metals leeching in, according to a food safety guy who is a long time friend. It is completely mind boggling we let that happen.
What do you think the regulatory standard should be set to? It is currently set to 10 ppb (parts per billion). Do you think it should be 0? 0.0000 ppb? No detectable lead whatsoever? What do you do if detection technology improves and the minimum detectable level decreases? Even if you go live totally off the grid with your child and grow your own vegetables in your backyard with completely natural ingredients, you w…
Did you know, the world still mines more lead now than it did 50 years ago, at the peak of 'put lead in everything' mania? To me, this says that we still put lead in too many things. Lead is still used for flashing in roofs. It's still used as a mould release when making plastics. It's still used in making dishware. It's still used in bullets. It's still used for all kinds of things which will one day end up in the e…
I live with children in a very old house. I would love to be able to measure my children's lead exposure and check things like window paint or house dust for lead content to see how big a problem there is. How do I do that?
https://tamararubin.com/2023/01/dont-panic-these-lead-test-k...
She recommends the american brand Scitus for swab test kits.