Could drinking from the school’s water fountain put your child’s health at risk?
The odds are higher than parents might think, according to a new report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center in Denver, Colorado, called "Get the Lead Out."
Researchers examined each U.S. state’s policy in regard to preventing lead contamination of drinking water.
More than half the states got a failing grade of an F.
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Eight states received a D and 13 got a C.
Only two states — New Hampshire and New Jersey — plus Washington, D.C., scored a B.
John Rumpler, lead author of the study and clean water program director for Environment America, said an F generally means a state has done "little to nothing" to stop lead contamination of schools’ water.
"Many of these states now have limited, voluntary testing programs, but testing doesn't make the water any safer," Rumpler told Fox News Digital via an email.
"Instead of spending time and money on more tests confirming that kids have been drinking lead-tainted water, families would be better served if officials took steps to prevent lead contamination in the first place."
Environment America last performed this study in 2019.
The results weren’t promising then, but Rumpler said the data confirming widespread contamination of schools' water is even stronger now.
The new study was released on Thursday morning, Feb. 23, 2023.
The dangers of drinking water tainted with lead — a toxic metal — are well-known and widespread.
In children, exposure to even small amounts over time can lead to behavioral and learning problems, stunted growth, lower IQ, hearing problems, anemia and damage to the nervous system, as listed on the EPA’s website.
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In rare cases, high levels of lead exposure can result in coma, seizures or even death.
The effects are far more pronounced in children than in adults.
"Children have developing brains that are highly susceptible to the damaging effects of lead," Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, medical toxicologist at the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital in an email.
"While a smaller number of children might be admitted to the ER with acute lead poisoning — from whatever source — millions of kids are at risk of behavioral, developmental and/or cognitive damage from low levels of lead," Rumpler added.
Rumpler was somewhat surprised to find that lead contamination of water is happening in suburban and rural schools as well as in urban ones.
"Tests have documented lead-tainted water in all types of communities — rural towns, big cities and affluent suburbs," the study findings stated.
"Examples include schools in Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Yarmouth, Maine; several school districts in upstate New York and suburban communities in Illinois."
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Among the schools that are testing their water, some found alarmingly high levels of lead.
At a Montessori school in Cleveland, for example, water from a drinking fountain was found to contain 1,560 parts per billion of lead; a faucet at an elementary school in Massachusetts tested at 22,400 parts per billion.
By comparison, the EPA only allows a maximum of 15 parts per billion, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called for limits to be set at 1 part per billion.
The problem stems from aging school buildings — and old pipes.
A 2016 report in Education Week found that the average age of U.S. school buildings was 44 years.
"Because many schools are older and may contain lead pipes or older fixtures, it is certainly possible that these aging plumbing systems may experience corrosion over time, leading to the release of lead into the drinking water," said Johnson-Arbor.
In many cases, the service lines carrying water from the streets to the school buildings are also made from lead.
H/T Fox News (read more at FoxNews.com)
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