Lead in Schools’ Drinking Water
Op-ed
I’m glad to see the Tribune’s recent article (“Toxic traces at the tap,” May 7) highlighting the dangerous water in Illinois’ public schools and its investigative attention on that matter. The fact that more than 1,800 schools had some amount of lead is alarming but sadly not surprising.
There is no “safe level” of lead that can be in a child’s bloodstream. Any trace amounts can be harmful to health, especially in early childhood. Lead can damage the brain and nervous system, cause learning and behavior problems, and slow down growth and development. We need to address this for what it is — a public health crisis.
Recently, I led a letter urging funding for schools to be able to test and mitigate lead in their drinking water. I asked the Appropriations Committee to do so by funding two grants in line with President Joe Biden’s budget request: the Lead Testing in School and Child Care Program Drinking Water grant program at $36.5 million and the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water grant program at $182 million.
The school lead testing program is a voluntary grant to assist local and tribal educational agencies and child care programs in testing for lead in drinking water at their facilities. The drinking water lead reduction program awards funding for the reduction of lead in drinking water in disadvantaged communities through drinking water infrastructure, treatment improvements, and facility remediation in schools and child care facilities in states and tribal communities.
Every child deserves clean and safe drinking water. It’s the least we can do to ensure their water at school is free of lead.
— U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove
By: Rep. Sean Casten
Source: Chicago Tribune