Lead in Drinking Water - New York State Lead

Lead is harmful to one’s health, especially children. There is NO known safe levels of lead in a child’s blood. Lead poisoning effects life long development issues in children. Improving outcomes requires taking actions to reduce exposure.

How Does Lead Get into Drinking Water?

Lead in drinking water most common sources are lead pipes, faucets & fixtures. Water that has low mineral content or high acidity is cause for pipes & fixtures to corrode, causing lead to enter drinking water. The most significant source of lead in water comes from lead service lines that connect the home to the water main. These lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities & homes built before 1986. Other common problems arise from chrome-plated or brass faucets & plumbing containing lead solder.

The extent of which lead enters water include factors such as:

temperature of the water
amount of wear in the pipes
how long the water stays in the pipes
the presence of protective coatings inside the plumbing materials
the water chemistry & types and amounts of minerals in the water
the amount of lead it comes in contact with

The EPA issued the Lead & Copper Rule (LCR) to help address the corrosion of lead & copper in drinking water. Corrosion control treatment is a requirement to prevent water contamination, meaning utilities must make drinking water less corrosive when it comes in contact with certain materials when it travels to consumers homes.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) allows for a maximum allowable lead content to be considered “lead-free.” The weighted average has to no more that 0.25% when calculated across wet surfaces of pipes, plumbing fittings, pipe fittings and fixtures. Solder & flux can contain no more than 0.2%.

Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water Health Effects?

The EPA has set lead’s maximum containment level goal at zero for lead in drinking water. So there is NO safe level of lead in drinking water. Lead is a toxic metal, that even in low exposure levels is harmful to human health. Over time lead accumulates in the body.

Fetuses, infants & young children are especially vulnerable to the physical & behavioral effects of lead, because lead exposure occurs at a much lower level in children than adults. Effects of this exposure to children include:

Central (CNS) & peripheral (PNS) nervous systems (the brain, spinal cord & systems that carry out sensory, motor and integration of data)
Learning disabilities
Impaired hearing
Shorter size
Formation & function of blood cell impairment

Behavior & learning problems, lower IQ & hyperactivity, hearing problems, slowed growth & anemia are results of even low levels of lead in a child’s blood.

Some of the ways children get exposed to lead is through lead in paint, soil, dust, air, food, as well as drinking water. Many times the exposure happens from a combination of sources. Drinking water is estimated by the EPA to account for 20% or more of lead exposure, & infants who consume formula, receive 40 to 60% of their exposure through drinking water.

Pregnant women are also more susceptible to the effects of lead. Lead accumulates & gets stored in our bodies in our bones with the calcium over time. During pregnancy, lead is released from bones in the form of maternal calcium used to help form the fetus’s bones. Lead can also cross through the placenta exposing the fetus to the lead, resulting in serious side effects including premature birth & reduced growth of the fetus.

Is There Lead in Your Drinking Water?

Lets start with the water coming into your home. The EPA requires all local utility water systems to prepare a yearly water quality report called a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). You can request the latest copy of the report by contacting your local utility.

Another way to find out about your local water quality report by, is to enter your zip code in the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Tap Water Database, which compiles an easy portal to access water quality analysis of more than 31 million state water records.

Now let’s have your home water tested for lead. Often times homes can have internal plumbing materials that can contain lead. Lead is something that cannot be seen, smelled or tasted in water. The only way to 100% tell if there is lead in your drinking water is to have it tested. Hiring a certified Lead Testing & Abatement company, takes the guess work out of making sure all lines are tested properly, and will include not only testing the house lines, but also the service lines, that as started earlier are often times the issue. The different ways of testing the water lines, will allow to pinpoint which lines contain lead, and how far into the lines the problem goes.

Contact New York State Lead, for more information on setting up a consolation. 718-467-1500 or [email protected]

Steps To Take to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water

Have your water tested to learn more about the lead levels in your drinking water.
Contact your water utility or licensed plumber to find out if the pipe that connects the water main (called a service line) to your home is made from lead.
Run your water to flush your homes pipes by running the tap before drinking, doing laundry, taking a shower, & doing dishes. The length of time you will need to run the water depends on whether or not your home has a lead service line or not, as well as the length of the service line. Your local water utility can be contacted to find out about recommended flushing times.
Find out if there is construction in your neighborhood. Construction can cause lead to be released from service lines, so be aware of any work that can disturb your lead service line.
Use only cold water. Boiling water does not remove lead from drinking water, so only use cold water for drinking, cooking & making baby formula
Regularly clean your sink’s faucet screen, known as an aerator, to remove any debris, sediment and lead particles. If there are lead particles caught in the aerator, you will be drinking water containing lead.
Use a water filter that is certified to remove lead. Not all water filters are certified to remove lead. Consumer Reports published a report in November 2021 of the “Best & Worst Water Filter Pitchers” and recommends specific filters that meet certain standards for removing specific contaminants, such as lead.

Find out if you have lead pipes in your home with the Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead Guide

This easy to access & use online guide will help you to try & determining information about your lead service line that brings water into your home.

Get Your Child Tested to Determine their Blood Lead Levels

New York State Public Health Law and Regulations require health care providers to: Test all children at age 1 year and again at age 2 with a blood lead test. At every well child visit, assess all children ages 6 months to 6 years for risk of lead exposure.

This is not a requirement in most states. Contact your pediatrician or family doctor to inquire about having a blood test performed. City, state or county Departments of Health can provide information on how to have your child’s blood tested for lead. The CDC ( Center for Disease Control) recommends action be taken when a child’s blood lead level is 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) or more.

Here is a more in-depth breakdown to understand what the results of your child’s blood test mean.

What does your Child's Blood Test Mean? — What does your Child’s Blood Test Mean?

Find Out if Lead in Drinking Water is an Issue in Your Child’s School or Child Care Facility

Children spend most of their days at school or at a childcare facility. The schools faucets that produce water for consuming, drinking, cooking & prepping formula & juice should all be tested.

On September 6, 2016, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law Chapter 296 of the Laws of 2016 requiring all public school districts & Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to test drinking water for lead contamination. Action must also be taken if lead exceeds the lead action level (15 micrograms per liter), & the faucet must be immediately taken out of service until actions are taken to mitigate the lead levels. Schools must, in writing, notify staff, parents, & guardians of students when outlets indicate contamination.

Schools are required to use a laboratory that is approved to perform lead testing in potable water by the Department’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP)

New York State Lead worked with the City of New York in 2016 to test thousand of faucets throughout the city for lead. And yearly works with schools to maintain testing compliance that is required every 4 years.

Only eleven states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) & two cities (New York City and DC) require licensed child care facilities to test their drinking water for lead.

As a caregiver to a child it is important to take the initiative to find out about how your child’s school & your local community test for lead in drinking water.

Some national news headlines that can help visualize the importance states & the nation are making moves to protect children from lead in water.

How EPA Requires States and Public Water Systems to Protect Drinking Water

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires EPA to establish & enforce standards that public drinking water systems must follow. EPA delegates the primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems to states & tribes if they meet certain requirements

Drinking water standards apply to public water systems:

Public water systems are those having at least 15 service connections or serve at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year.
Over 150,000 public water systems across the U.S. serve more than 300 million people.

Six Year Review:

EPA is required to review each standard every six years and, if appropriate, revise the standard.
Any revision must maintain or improve public health protection.
If a regulation is revised, EPA goes through the standard setting process again and evaluates a number of factors.