Public School seeing increasing amounts of lead contaminated results.
We recently found an article published by En Qi Teo, researcher and writer for Save The Water, in which she included that a “recent study, done by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Nutrition Policy Institute at the University of California, found that over 40% of US public schools in 24 states have dangerously high levels of lead contamination in their water fountains.” This article was published a mere 6 months ago so we know the information is relevant to the current situation.
”An alarming 44% of schools had more than one water sample that was found to have higher-than-recommended lead levels.” The outtake here is “more” - 44% of schools had more than one water sample found to have higher than recommended lead levels. This is a very alarming statistic, and it’s not even conclusive. We have no idea how these tests were really conducted, how many faucets or sources were tested, or where the source of the lead may be coming form (faucet, on-site piping or service lines leading to the schools).
“Lead is a cheap material, and therefore has been used in the manufacturing of plumbing systems. As a result, pure lead service lines (LSLs) are estimated to be extremely common across America, including in many major cities. Additionally, the water chemistry, which is affected by the weather and changes in the distribution system, may also speed up corrosion. This is what results in higher-than-recommended lead levels being present in the water.” This is something that makes scientific sense, and we know for a fact that service lines containing lead were the common solution to service line piping prior to the ban of lead in plumbing solder in 1986.
“In 2004, a study found that almost 60% of Philadelphia schools had levels of lead in their water that exceeded the action level in Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA)”, being 15 parts per billion. In one of our previous blog posts, we outlined how especially in children the lead contamination is crucial, as it can “reduce IQ, delay growth and cause behaviour and learning problems.” - US News & World Report
”Some studies estimate that each microgram per deciliter of blood lead concentration cause a 0.25-point drop in IQ.” - that is major, that is a loss in IQ that people can’t afford and quite honestly shouldn’t ever have to worry about in the first place.
Nature 2 Tap - Test Kit with 4 Vials
The means that are taken to testing the water at the schools are more than likely not evidently conclusive. Our biggest concern is that we know that the requirements set out by regulatory bodies are not very strict. It could be easy to evade doing anything about any issues found, and more or less hiding the results or simply stating that they were from an inconclusive water source. The matter of the fact is, tests should be a lot more common and should be conducted at a lot more sources than one or a few.
We have done our best to make it easy for individuals like yourself, to get affordable and easy access to reliable lab results regarding lead content in drinking water. With that, however, the tests we provide are just as good for schools also, there is no restriction on who can or can’t use our test kit to get reliable results. Do you know someone who works at a school? Please let them know about us! We need more individuals to know about the issue and to let them get educated.