Is Your Garden Hose Dangerous to Your Health?

How often do you grab a sip of water from your garden hose when you’re out gardening? If you’re like most gardeners, you’ve probably done it fairly often. And if you have kids, you can bet that they’re drinking from the garden hose, too. Would it scare you to find out that the water from your garden hose could be toxic? Scary information, and, sadly, true.

In May, the Ecology Center, an Ann Arbor based research center, tested the water from 90 garden hoses that were currently on the market. Their results were shocking, especially in light of the safety standards for drinking water and Consumer Protection Agency standards for lead in products that will be used by children. Among other things, the Ecology Center found that water sampled from some of the garden hoses contained unacceptably high levels of lead, phthalates and BPA and DEP, a hormone disruptor that can cause numerous problems for young children. Specifically, the water from one light duty 1/2 inch garden hose contained 928ppm for lead – nearly 20 times the allowable amount in drinking water. It also contained BPA that was more than 20 times the acceptable amount in drinking water and DEHP in levels 4 times the federal standard for drinking water.

Meanwhile, in 2011, Consumer Reports did similar tests with 16 new hoses, all available nationally. They found that the hoses that were labeled as drinking water safe garden hoses leached the least amount of lead – less than the allowable lead levels for tap water. Among the other garden hose products, however, the lead levels ranged as high as 100 times the levels of lead allowable in drinking water.

Why Is There Lead in Your Garden Hose?

The lead and other harmful chemicals in your garden hose come from two different sources. First, brass garden hose fittings can contain up to 8 percent lead. The bigger problem, though, is the plastic used for the hose body. Many cheaper garden hoses – and some higher quality ones – use lead as a stabilizer for the plastic and as a pigment. It’s especially common if your garden hose is green or yellow – which includes most of them. In addition, PVC garden hose, which is very common, contains phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors.

So What Can You Do?

First, discard your old plastic garden hose and buy a natural rubber hose, suggests the Ecology Center. Second, look for a drinking water safe garden hose. Even with those precautions, however, the Ecology Center and Consumer Reports both recommend that you always flush the garden hose before drinking by letting the water run for at least 30 seconds before drinking. And just to be on the safe side, flush your garden hose before using it to water anything edible as well.