Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin.
The bill, heard Monday, by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where lead is found. The goal is drinking water with a lead concentration of less than one part per billion. The state’s current action level for drinking water is 15 times that.
In telling her colleagues about the bill on Monday, Rep. Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, said the legislation would require schools to test their water and then mitigate. Typically, she said, adding filters would be the best fix.
Lead is a colorless, odorless, poisonous heavy metal and neurotoxin that can have irreversible effects on organ systems in the body. Children are especially vulnerable and may suffer slowed growth and development, as well as hearing, speech and learning problems because of exposure — even at low levels.
“This is truly a kid-first bill,” said Rep. Paula Brown, D-St. Louis, who worked on the legislation with Bailey.
State governments already have funds, provided by federal grants, for schools that voluntarily test their water. But if the bill passes, Missouri will stand apart from peers in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska by requiring action at such low levels.
The prevalence of lead poisoning has declined steadily in the last several decades. Forty years ago, more than 80% of children had lead levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter in their blood, more than double the level modern health professionals consider elevated, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. But while lead has been banned in gasoline, paint, and pipes for decades, it remains in older homes and buildings.
Between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018, more than 2,500 Missouri children — just over 3% of those tested — were found to have blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter.
Eradicating the remaining environmental lead has been a priority for President Joe Biden’s administration, bringing about a national discussion about the toxin’s legacy of contamination. The infrastructure law passed by Congress and signed by Biden last year allocates $15 billion in funds to replace lead service lines in the next five years.
Bailey and supporters of her legislation noted federal COVID-19 relief funds could help pay for the efforts in Missouri schools. A House budget subcommittee discussed adding $20 million for lead filtration to an appropriations bill still being weighed by the larger Budget Committee.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends lead concentration in school drinking not exceed one part per billion because it is the lowest detectable level, although there is no known safe blood lead concentration. The Environmental Protection Agency requires public water systems to take action if more than 10% of routine samples have 15 or more parts per billion of lead.
The primary lead hazard to children in Missouri is exposure to deteriorated lead-based paint, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
“We’ve been working on that,” said Bridget Sanderson, director of Environment Missouri and supporter of the legislation. “And now we just have to update our aging infrastructure to help protect our children.”
Lead in school drinking water is common in states across the country. Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that of the 12 states included in the 2019 study, 44% of schools had at least one water sample test above the state’s lead concentration action level.
This article was republished with permission as part of a content sharing partnership with Missouri Independent. Original story found here.
The Missouri Independent and the NPR Midwest Newsroom are jointly exploring the issue of high levels of lead in the children in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
