Hot summer weather is slowing making it’s way into Canada. For many kids that means splashing around through lawn sprinklers to keep cool, and probably taking a drink from the garden hose, and also of course, watering your vegetable garden.
But wait, the good old garden hose may not be your friend any more.
Times and materials have changed. The once common rubber hose has long been supplanted by a wide selection of less expensive plastic materials with a variety of chemicals to make them pliable.
A non-profit group in the US called the Ecology centre wanted to test these hoses and the water being sprayed on vegetable gardens, and that people might be drinking from the hose.
They tested 21 brands and models of garden hose and found a variety of chemicals of concern leaching from the plastic hoses.
They included levels of phthalate plasticizers four times higher than accepted standards, and Bisphenol A 20 times higher than acceptable drinking water levels. They found that vinyl and PVC hoses leached more of those two chemicals , while hoses with copper fittings tended to leach the most lead content.
“I certainly wouldn’t let my kid, or any kid that I knew drink from a hose, it’s a completely unnecessary risk,” said Gideon Foreman, the Toronto, Ontario based executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
“One of the concerns certainly around the garden hose is they are not meant to go into a child’s mouth,” he explained. “They’re not meant to be drunk from … they’re not regulated, and there is some danger that the chemicals in the hose, just like other plastics, can leach.”
The US group also tested gardening gloves and soft kneeling pads and found concerns there as well.
“I certainly wouldn’t let my kid, or any kid that I knew drink from a hose, it’s a completely unnecessary risk,” said Gideon Foreman, the Toronto, Ontario based executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
“One of the concerns certainly around the garden hose is they are not meant to go into a child’s mouth,” he explained. “They’re not meant to be drunk from … they’re not regulated, and there is some danger that the chemicals in the hose, just like other plastics, can leach.”
Health Canada also suggests people not drink from hoses, adding that bacteria can present a health risk.
To avoid potential concerns look for hoses that state on the packaging they are lead free and drinking water safe.
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