EPA Plans to Enhance Lead Safeguards in Potable Water Following Several Crises, Including Flint

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Approximately four decades in the past, during the early stages of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) effort to manage lead contamination in drinking water, researcher Ronnie Levin identified the scale of the problem: an estimated 40 million individuals consumed water containing perilous levels of lead, adversely affecting the cognitive abilities of numerous children.

However, implementing new regulations presented significant financial and logistical challenges. As a result, the issue was essentially shelved by certain EPA personnel during the 1980s, according to Levin, who is a former researcher at the agency.

Nevertheless, an internal leak of Levin’s findings to the media incited considerable public uproar, compelling the EPA to take action. The regulations established at that time have remained largely unchanged since then, undergoing only minor modifications.

Currently, the EPA is on the verge of enhancing these existing regulations.

A photograph dated July 20, 2018, shows a lead pipe being substituted by a copper water supply line in Flint, Michigan.

While considerable progress has been made to mitigate primary sources of lead exposure to the populace—around half a million U.S. children are still estimated to have elevated lead levels in their blood—experts contend that lead-laced drinking water remains a significant contributor.

The EPA now intends to further minimize lead content in drinking water and amend a regulation that was ineffective in averting recent water crises in locales such as Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey. While details are not yet disclosed, the agency plans to mandate the proactive replacement of hazardous lead pipes by utilities.

President Joe Biden has already advocated for the removal of the nation’s estimated 9.2 million lead pipes, which primarily contribute to lead contamination in drinking water.

Replacing these pipes is a costly and labor-intensive process, often requiring homeowners to bear the financial burden for the pipes on their premises.

Ronnie Levin, currently a faculty member at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, emphasizes the immense societal impact of lead exposure. Children are particularly susceptible, as high levels of lead can notably impair intelligence, focus, learning ability, and behavior. Federal guidelines indicate that no level of lead exposure is safe for children and even minimal amounts can detrimentally affect IQ scores.

The forthcoming revised regulations coincide with the federal government’s multifaceted efforts to tackle lead exposure, which include warnings about lead in aviation fuel and proposed stricter limitations on lead dust in older residential and childcare facilities.

In spite of the substantial reduction in blood lead levels among U.S. children over several decades, numerous children continue to be exposed to the toxic element. “A significant portion of that exposure is attributed to lead in drinking water,” notes Dr. Aaron Bernstein, the newly appointed head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s environmental health programs.

After years of inaction and multiple crises, from Flint to Washington, D.C., the EPA is poised to finally make meaningful regulatory changes to protect the public from the insidious threat of lead in drinking water.

This article is supported by the Walton Family Foundation for its coverage on water and environmental policy. The Associated Press holds exclusive responsibility for all its content. For comprehensive environmental reporting, visit AP’s dedicated climate and environmental coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Lead in Drinking Water Regulations

More about Lead in Drinking Water Regulations

• EPA Lead and Copper Rule
• Flint Water Crisis: A Timeline
• Lead Exposure in Children: Health Effects
• Joe Biden’s Plan to Eliminate Lead Pipes
• Historical Overview of EPA’s Lead Drinking Water Regulations
• Lead in Aviation Fuel
• Lead-Based Paint and Housing
• Lead Exposure Standards and Guidelines
• Utilities and Lead Monitoring