# 85% of kids' drinks and snacks tested have lead in them. Tell me why I shouldn't be freaking out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312 "2010-06-15T17:00:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/41 "2010-06-16T15:20:42Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? It just seems completely uneconomical to ship fish 15-20k miles round trip just to gut & clean them. Now that I’m looking, no, I don’t seem to have a site. A friend who is usually quite knowledgeable about things like this told me it was so; but since I’m not seeing anything it probably isn’t. Unless someone else can come up with something, I’ll consider myself corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/42 "2010-06-16T16:22:52Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > As someone who moved to California at age 23, I can tell you I got to the point where I totally ignored Prop 65 warning signs within a few months of having moved there. They are everywhere in California. I’m pretty sure that the California hotels I’ve stayed in all had Prop 65 warning signs. And I don’t mean lead abatement emergency temporary signs, I mean preprinted plaques affixed to the wall that were probably ordered from a government agency or something. Apparently everything has lead in it. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/43 "2010-06-16T16:52:16Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Apparently everything has lead in it. If only the enviromental wackos (as opposed to the reasonable environmentalists) would realize excessive crap like this actually does more harm than good. Highlight the stuff that has lots of lead it so people can know. Work to lower lead levels through reasonable measures. Warnings that everything has LEAD! in it just scares people and doesnt enable them to do a damn thing to lower their exposure at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/44 "2010-06-16T17:28:50Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? It just seems completely uneconomical to ship fish 15-20k miles round trip just to gut & clean them. > [@Wallenstein](#): > > Not specific to your point but highlights the issues. > > Here in the UK we have scampi (langoustines / prawns) which are caught in Scotland then shipped to Thailand for processing before being shipped back to Scotland for distribution in the UK. > > That’s a round trip of _12000 miles_, but it works out much cheaper to send the scampi all that way for hand-peeling rather than employing local workers in Scotland. > > Utter madness but such is the world. > > [BBC NEWS | Scotland | South of Scotland | 12,000-mile scampi trip condemned](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6150240.stm) > [@MandaJo](#): > > I would imagine shipping to countries that are net exporters is really very, very cheap: all those containers have to go back anyway, to get filled up with $4 T-shirts and toys. And if “normal” shipping charges back are efficient for $4 t-shirts, why not fish and prawns? Bulk sea transport is cheap because (fuel / km)/kg is incredibly low for a large ship. It might be extra cheap to ship things to China because the containers are needed for export, but when you’re shipping raw materials one way and product the other, you might not get the benefit of those rates. I chose China as an example as Norwegian fish has been sent to the EU market via processing plants there. Oh, and yes. Prop 65 is ridiculously strict. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/45 "2010-06-16T17:33:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > there isn’t \*any \*safe level of lead for them to consume, is there? No The Children’s Health and Disabilities Prevention program guidelines state that there is no known safe level for blood lead values. CHDP requires blood testing for lead at 12 and 24 months of age for California children followed by the MediCal program. I work for an agency that serves over 3,000 California central valley children between the ages of 2 and 5. From low income families; the most likely group to experience lead poisoning because of housing, food and hygiene issues. The CDC considers blood lead levels negatively impacting physical and mental function at 10 ug/dcl. That said, consider that of the 3000+ children that I help serve, nearly all of those have blood lead levels of less than 2. Yes, there are measurable amounts of lead in their systems. No, they are not considered poisoned. Yes, we should try to prevent more exposure to absorbing lead as much as we can. Foods manufactured in other countries have been wrapped in lead-based paint decorated wrappers. Buildings painted before 1970 may chip off lead-based paint. If parents worry about lead levels, have that child tested. Venous draws are most accurate. Cyn, RN ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312/46 "2010-06-16T17:43:47Z")
Thank you, **Cyn**! I tried to PM you directly, but the system wouldn’t let me find your username; perhaps your PMs are turned off. So…upshot? Should I avoid these things like the plague, or can I use them in moderation without too much worry? To quantify, I’d define “moderation” as one serving per week on average. In reality, it’s more like two or three fruit cups one week and then none for two or three weeks, but that’s math for ya. (Juice is a holiday treat in our home. Juice boxes are gifts from heaven in my child’s eyes, and rare as hen’s teeth because I let her have them so rarely!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-of-kids-drinks-and-snacks-tested-have-lead-in-them-tell-me-why-i-shouldnt-be-freaking-out/543312.md?page=2)