• Question from:jeff

Our well water contains .0002 mg/l  of arsenic.  Is this level harmful to the hummingbirds ?

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  • University of Aberdeen
  • Posts: 57

The EPA (US environmental protection agency) have set the arsenic standard for drinking water at 10 parts per billion (0.010 mg/L)http://www.epa.gov/safewater/arsenic/index.html

The amount of arsenic you have in your well water seems well below this threshold so I would be tempted to say that this level is safe, however, I do not know the tolerance of hummingbirds to arsenic.

If hummingbirds are common in your local area, maybe you should compare the level of arsenic in your well to the levels found in areas where the hummingbirds are common, such as a local stream (as long as there hasn't been a significant decrease in the number of hummingbirds in that area recently).