When parents send their children to school each day, they trust administrators and teachers with more than their child's education -- they're trusting the school with their child's health and safety. Unfortunately, despite the presence of dangerous aging pipes and infrastructure, public schools in the US aren't required ensure that the water in the school drinking fountains is free from poisonous lead.
Newark, New Jersey has been making headlines recently due to the presence of lead in numerous schools and educational facilities: so far, 30 of the 66 public school buildings in the city have turned off their drinking fountains and posted signs in the bathrooms warning children not to drink from the taps. Instead, students are being provided with bottled water for drinking and food prep. Nor is Newark the only school district under scrutiny: in parts of Boston, Baltimore, and Camden, New Jersey, some students have been drinking bottled water for years due to contamination concerns.
But what's most worrying isn't the number of schools testing positive for lead. It's the fact that most schools don't test their water for the presence of lead at all. That's due to a loophole in EPA regulations. The federal agency requires that schools only use water from sources that are regularly tested for lead, but the rules don't account for lead that might be leeched into water when it enters the building itself.
This is a major problem, because many older schools were built during a time when it was still legal to use lead pipes, lead solder, and leaded brass drinking fountains. Much of this plumbing has simply never been upgraded or replaced, and is now beginning to leech dangerous metals as it ages.
The average American child spends 6-7 hours in school every day -- the amount of water they may drink or consume in cafeteria meals over the course of a year isn't trivial. Exposure to unsafe levels of lead can cause permanent brain damage, high blood pressure, and kidney disease. In severe enough cases, lead poisoning can actually kill. Public health organizations from around the world agree that there is no safe level for lead exposure in children -- it's time to close this regulatory loophole and require schools around the country to test their pipes and ensure the water being served to children every day is safe.
If enough of us put pressure on the EPA to close this loophole, we can change this policy and ensure our children are safe from lead poisoning in school. Please sign and share this petition demanding mandatory lead testing in schools today.
