Dangerous Lead Levels in Seemingly Innocent Garden Hoses

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Dangerous Lead Levels in Seemingly Innocent Garden Hoses

by Melissa Rabe* ( GMMJDRABE [at] aol.com )

Monday Jul 16th, 2007 7:08 PM

 

" In other words, we have threatened an estimated 88% of American children

with a lowered IQ from lead poisoning, sometimes called the " silent epidemic. "

 

 

 

For Immediate Release

Urgent Action Required

Dated: July 16, 2007 8:53pm CST

 

 

(Urgent: July 16, 2007, USA) - Some people seem to be missing the point.

If the argument is:

" I drank out of garden hoses, and ain't nothin' wrong with me or mine " :

If you are over 35, you never drank out of (as a child) a pvc garden hose.

 

If your argument is:

your water comes to your house, and is distributed throughout your house by

PVC pipes; again, you are right. However; we spent three decades, eliminating

copper pipes from homes, because the lead solder on those pipes would, indeed,

leach lead into homes, and the familial drinking supply, and affect children

as a neurotoxin, causing neurological disorders.

 

If your argument is that PVC is safe; indeed, it is safe, in certain

conditions.

The idea that all PVC products are safe, is untrue. The argument against

using PVC in garden hoses has been based, solely on, the disintegration of PVC

in

sunlight. Obviously, PVC pipe used, underground, from your municipal water

supply, to your house, and throughout your house, is far safer than using copper

pipes and lead solder. The problem, has always been with the breakdown of

PVC's in sunlight. And, that brings us back to garden hoses.

 

I never let my children drink out of garden hoses. And, that was because of

the breakdown of PVC's in sunlight. And, that was in the 70's -90's. And, now,

someone has thought it a good idea to use lead in garden hoses!

 

If it was a bad idea to use it in old plumbing, which we " fixed " with PVC

pipes; and, it was a bad idea to use lead in paint; which we have been removing

for three decades; and, it was a bad idea to add lead to gasoline, which we

spent two decades removing, and the reason that all gasoline is now " unleaded " ;

why the hell would it be a good idea to add lead to PVC as a stabilizer for a

dirty plastic? Because it wouldn't leach? Because it wouldn't affect the next

generation? I don't think so!

 

So, for all you nay-sayers, I will quote from authority: " Each year, 12,000

to 16,000 American children (mostly poor and non-white) are treated for acute

lead poisoning (caused mostly by ingesting chips of lead based paint), and

about 200 die. About 30% of those who survive suffer from palsy, partial

paralysis, blindness, and mental retardation. "

 

" In other words, we have threatened an estimated 88% of American children

with a lowered IQ from lead poisoning, sometimes called the " silent epidemic. "

According to the Public Health Service: " Lead-induced reductions in IQ not only

place the individual at a disadvantage, but also eventually place the nation

at a collective disadvantage in an increasingly competitive, technical, and

cognitive-intensive world economy. " Officials at the Center for Disease Control

recommend that all preschool children be tested for lead as early as age one.

( " Living in the Environment " , Miller; 1992, pg.559).

 

And, so, are we going to disregard the gains of the last thirty years, and

let garden hoses with dangerous levels of lead be sold to the public, without

warning the public, and without any public sense of responsibility? I think not.

And, the only way to gain corporate responsibility is to demand it by the

public responsibility! Corporations are not going to do a thing about this issue

until WE demand that they do so!

 

But, the first step is informing the public of the health hazard. The next

step is DEMANDING corporate responsibility, accountability, and ACTION against

selling garden hoses with lead stabilizers.

 

 

 

* Melissa Rabe is a writer living and working in the Heartland. She

encourages your comments and questions about the properties of lead and lead

poisoning.

You may comtact Ms Rabe at this email address: GMMJDRABE [at] aol.com

 

 

 

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