lol yeah thats true thyra. also i been drinking water straight out of the mississippi river and streams as well as garden hoses since i was like 4 years old. everybody worries about these heavy metals and i just don't i melt lead for making fishing lures all the time and that gives off lead vapor. i just tend not to worry about that stuff and my fish thirve with using untreated well water out of a garden hose. but on the plus side i tend to buy american over chinese so that may help with the garden hose lol. and i kinda mentioned all this stuff to my folks when we were at supper tonight and my dad just spouted bull sh*t he been doing it for 57 years and he is fine lol. i kinda guess thats where i get the lack of concern from. lol
Also note that safety precautions are only needed when there is cause to a particular situation. Like a seat belt for instance or an air bag. Why drive a car with one if you dont need it at that time. We do so because it keeps us safe from tragedy and harms way. Like lead in the hoses, its only really dangerous if we consume more lead then our bodies can naturally remove. This is the only way lead ingestion is bad. We ALL have lead in our bodies and is fine if they are at safe levels that the body can handle. Just because we have never had the opportunity to see how safe a seat belt is or is not in a certain situation or how bad lead can be is not a cause to Call BS. This thinking is very blind and narrow minded. One might drink from a hose without ever a negative affect and one might never have the chance to see how a seat belt can or cannot save a life either. One could die even if using and abiding by safety protocols but, I would much better be on safe side then the gamble side.
Being educated to preserve ourselves, others, plants, land, water, air, and animals is what is important.
Here is a very short read on lead in water and the hot side as well from the NY times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html