California lawmakers have passed a bill that would require preschool

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Unpleasant

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12th

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elementary schools in the Golden State to test for brain-damaging lead in all drinking water points.

Assembly Bill 249 would require community water systems that serve

school sites schools

built before 2010 to test all drinking water drains for lead and to report the results to the school, education agency and state water regulators. Outlets that exceed lead levels of 5 parts per billion should be closed immediately. Testing would be required before 2027 and would also apply to preschools and childcare facilities on public school grounds.

The measure, authored by Assembly Member Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), passed in the Senate and Assembly this week. It now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office for a final decision.

The legislation follows alarming data showing that one in four daycare centers in the United States have dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water, indicating that thousands of infants, toddlers and children are being exposed to the powerful neurotoxin.

The highest results came from a San Diego facility that recorded 11,300 parts per billion at the time of testing, well above the state limit of 5 ppb in child care centers.

Drinking water at 1 in 4 daycares in California tests dangerously high for leadQUOTE

If lead levels are exceeded, the law requires schools or educational institutions to notify parents and guardians, disconnect the electrical outlet and find an alternative source of lead-free drinking water. The results of the lead sampling should be available to the public online. Schools or educational institutions should provide results upon request if they do not have a website.

Schools that replaced all drinking water drains as part of a modernization that took place after 2010 would be exempt from testing.

The Senate committee estimated that the bill would cost the California State Water Resources Control Board several tens of millions of dollars in the first few years, and millions annually thereafter, money that would come from the general fund or a special fund. The costs include the development and implementation of a new data collection system, database maintenance and data quality control monitoring, inspection of facilities,

And

respond

exceedance complaints and levels exceeding limits

among other things.

The committee estimates potentially significant one-time costs for districts or other educational institutions to remediate lead contamination if it is found.

The bill was co-sponsored by the Environmental Working Group and Children Now, a nonprofit organization focused on children’s health.

Several major groups expressed their opposition to the bill.

The donkey

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of California School Administrators and the California Ass

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of School Business Officials argued, among other things, that immediately shutting off electrical outlets that exceed the lead standard could leave an entire school without drinking water for an extended period of time. They added that there are intermediate responses, such as swishing water for 30 seconds

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to reduce lead levels, and that exceptions should be made for schools that have installed water filtration systems.

The Municipal Utilities of California Ass

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representing more than 50 agencies

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water to 75% of the state’s residents, and the California Special Districts Ass

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which represents nearly 1,000 independent special districts, said that while they agree with the authors’ goals, the bill could result in duplication or conflict with ongoing federal requirements.

They argued that the Environmental Protection Agencies’ revised lead and copper rule, which for the first time includes testing in schools and child care facilities, would overlap with the bill’s current compliance date.

California’s largest environmental cleanup is causing lead contamination and frustration

[W]ater systems would likely have to comply with two expanded testing regimens without any additional public health benefit, they said in a joint letter. And if state law and federal law conflict, it is unclear how water systems are expected to meet both sets of requirements.

To prevent double testing, the Water Board would, among other things, arrange an application

wavers waivers

prevent schools or water systems from also having to meet federal requirements.

AB 249 echoes a similar bill from 2017. AB 746 required school water systems built before 2010 to test for lead in drinking taps, but the action level was higher, at 15 ppb, and did not specify the number of outlets where testing was required.

The drinking water data released by the Department of Human Services in May marked the first time in the state’s history that child care facilities were required to test for lead, a law also authored by Holden and passed in 2018.

Lead poses an especially serious threat to children and pregnant people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of lead exposure in children, and even at low levels, intake can lower a child’s IQ, impair development and hearing, contribute to learning and behavioral problems, and cause damage. their brain and nervous system. Lead in drinking water cannot be seen or tasted, and damage from lead poisoning is irreversible.

The metal commonly enters drinking water through lead fixtures, faucets and pipes, which are likely to be found in older homes and buildings built before 1986, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Lead can also leach into drinking water when plumbing materials containing the metal corrode.

The EPA estimates that as much as 20% of a child’s lead exposure comes from drinking water

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Lead exposure in children is also born unequal. Low

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According to the CDC, low-income families and people of color are more likely to live in communities with old and aging infrastructure, and children from disadvantaged neighborhoods also bear the cumulative burden

effects

of other pollutants

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malnutrition, and attending under-resourced schools.