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How are you defining a "safe level"? Everyone in the world has been exposed to some amount of lead and most live out relatively long and healthy lives.
by jksflkjl3jk3 3y ago
How are you defining a "safe level"?
Everyone in the world has been exposed to some amount of lead and most live out relatively long and healthy lives.
- rgrieselhuber 3y agoComments like these are always so annoying to be honest. It takes the responsibility off the food manufacturers to do really simple things like, let’s not put toxic chemicals in food, and instead writes the whole thing down with flimsy statements like “well you’re already poisoned to some degree, should be fine though.”
- smegger001 3y agoBut its not entirely wrong there is some natural background level of expected exposure for things like lead, arsenic, mercury, etc as they are naturally occurring part of our environment. wanting to know what the floor is when talking about exposure to these toxins helps you understand the scale of exposure.
- rgrieselhuber 3y agoIn what environment should we be expected to naturally encounter lead, arsenic, and mercury?
- jksflkjl3jk3 3y agoJust about anywhere in the world that's not a sterilized room.
- rgrieselhuber 3y agoI still think it’s a disingenuous argument because we’re talking about elevated levels in food production.
- smegger001 3y agoNot really for example there a naturally occuring high levels of arsenic in the ground water and soil near near cooks inlet Alaska, there's lead in Idaho, and cinnabar (a naturally occuring mercury contain mineral) in California, uranium in Arizona Colorado New Mexico and Wyoming.
- Dylan16807 3y agoIt's not disingenuous when people are talking about treating any level like an elevated level.
- Herodotus38 3y agoArsenic levels in soil can naturally vary depending on minerals under the soil. So you can get more if say you are eating a root vegetable that you need to wash the dirt off vs less from an above ground vegetable. Unfortunately I have learned a lot about this bc our region has unnaturally elevated levels of lead and arsenic die to pesticide use in the past. But can also just be bad luck and natural. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231016/#:~:text=The%20natural%20arsenic%20content%20in,varies%20considerably%20among%20geographic%20regions https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231016/#:~:text=The%20....
- jandrewrogers 3y agoArsenic is naturally found in most water to varying degrees. It is an essential but poorly understood micronutrient. Its toxicity is similar to selenium, another essential micronutrient, so it isn't unique in terms of the dose response. Some plants concentrate it but that usually isn't bioavailable. Background lead levels are sometimes high naturally but those geographies are relatively rare. Lead is usually industrial pollution. Mercury chemistry in nature tends to have very poor bioavailability. Dietary mercury is almost exclusively industrial pollution where mercury is integrated into molecules that are much more bioavailable.
- jksflkjl3jk3 3y agoMy point is that your requirement can't be absolutely zero lead. If you have sensitive enough equipment, you're always going to detect some amount of common contaminants. > let’s not put toxic chemicals in food You make it sound like adding lead is an intentional act. Surely if it required no effort, food manufacturers would remove all of the lead. I don't know how much effort is required, but reports like this and testing by regulators is likely required to encourage them to put in more effort to get the lead down to a reasonable level.
- rgrieselhuber 3y agoSounds like a regulatory problem.