Unclean drinking water causes outrage
While nearly 83% of faucets and fountains tested were below the school district’s limit of 5 ppb, about 17% were above it.
A school district in Northern California is under fire after announcing Monday that nearly 200 drinking water fountains and faucets at several schools had elevated lead levels that exceeded the district’s limits.
The Oakland Unified School District, California’s 11th-largest public school district, said in a letter to families that it tested more than 1,000 faucets and fountains at 40 schools serving grades 1-12 to determine lead levels in the water. While nearly 83% of faucets and fountains tested were below the school district’s limit of 5 parts per billion (ppb), about 17% were above it.
The district standard of 5 ppb is more stringent than the state and federal guidelines of 15 ppb set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the limit for lead in drinking water.
Of the 1,083 faucets and fountains tested, the district found that 116 had levels above 5 ppb but below 15 ppb. And another 70 fixtures exceeded state and federal limits.
Fixtures that showed elevated levels have been taken out of service for repair and will be retested until lead levels are at or below 5 ppb, the district said. A total of 61 fixtures have been repaired so far and are currently awaiting retesting, the district said.
The district has advised families to ensure their children bring reusable water bottles to access filtered water dispensers on campus.
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Families and employees outraged by lack of communication
Although public records show lead levels were measured in schools between late March and June, families were not notified of the results until Monday. The district also confirmed that some schools learned about the water quality tests last week and said more schools will be notified this week.
“Despite our attention to detail and care in managing our campuses, we did not effectively communicate to members of each school community when testing began, we received results, and corrections were implemented,” the school district said in a letter to families.
“We are putting systems in place to ensure that a lack of effective communication does not recur and that school communities are notified in a timely manner when such testing occurs on their campuses,” the district added.
Monday’s announcement has raised concerns among parents and teachers who say they have been left in the dark about the lead concentration tests. Staff at Frink United Academy of Language, one of the schools whose test results were above district standards, called for transparency, pointing out that students have been exposed to lead since April, according to KTVU and KGO-TV.
“We are demanding clean drinking water for our students immediately,” Frick Academy counselor Catherine Cotter said at the school board meeting last week, KTVU and KGO-TV reported. “Transparency about what is happening and why we were only recently informed of this. The children there have been drinking water with lead all summer long since April.”
Stuard Loebl, a sixth-grade teacher at Frink Academy, told CBS News he was outraged and deeply saddened by the findings. “So students have been drinking leaded water all along; obviously before the report came out, but also afterward, which is outrageous to me,” Loebl said.
Effects of lead exposure on health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lead exposure can have serious health consequences for children and is particularly harmful for young children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that even low levels of lead in the blood can have negative health consequences for children.
“Lead exposure can affect multiple body systems,” the WHO said. “Young children are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning because they absorb 4-5 times more lead from a given source than adults.”
High levels of radiation exposure can cause brain and nervous system damage, slowed growth and development, learning and behavioral problems, and hearing and speech problems, according to the CDC. These effects can lead to lower IQ, reduced attention span, and poorer performance in school, the CDC added.
“The neurological and behavioral effects of lead are considered irreversible,” the WHO said.
Lower levels of exposure are often difficult to detect because there are no obvious symptoms, according to the CDC and WHO. Health officials advise parents to talk to their doctor about possible blood lead tests.
