What is in the water our children drink at school?

Lead may leak into the drinking water at schools and cause developmental problems among the children. The Ministry of Health and the water suppliers do not check the quality of the water inside the schools, the responsibility is shifted to the consumers - and in the meantime the children may be harmed

Quality tests for drinking water inside educational institutions are the only way to make sure that the water is safe. Illustration: https://plumbwellplumbers.com.au , pixabay .

By Dr. Naomi Wonder, Angle, Science and Environment News Agency

Our children spend a significant part of their time in educational settings. There they acquire education and life skills, socialize with their peers and shape their future. But because children grow and develop at a fast pace and are much more sensitive than adults to environmental hazards, it is important that the schools and educational frameworks be for the students not only a challenging and interesting framework, but also A safe learning environment in all its aspects.

In this context, one of the most important things is to provide them with water that is safe to drink and free from pollutants. One of the pollutants that made headlines this year, after it was discovered in the drinking water of many schools in the United States, is lead. Lead in the schools' drinking water can be found in the water that comes to the school from the external water supplier, but it can also come from spilling lead from the internal piping that leads the water to the taps and drinking facilities (collars).

In the school year XNUMX The education system in Israel includes 1.5 million kindergarten and elementary school students. Babies and children are especially sensitive to the dangerous effects of lead, because their brains and nervous system are forming at these ages at a fast pace. In children, even low levels of lead in the blood can cause behavioral and learning problems, concentration problems, decreased IQ, hyperactivity, growth problems, hearing problems and anemia.

Quality tests for drinking water inside educational institutions are the only way to make sure that the water is safe. But in the absurd situation that has arisen in Israel, there is no entity that is obligated to conduct lead (and other metal) tests in the faucets of public institutions in general and educational institutions in particular. Thus, the responsibility lies with the local authorities, parents and school administrators, and the Ministry of Health has almost no information about the quality of the water that the children drink - something that may have a decisive effect on their development in the future.

in colors, glass and even jewelry

Lead is a heavy metal found naturally in small amounts in the earth's soils. In our environment it can be found in tiny amounts in water, air and soil. Most of our exposure to lead comes from the fact that lead was used in the past as a fuel additive, and even as a base for home paints.

Because of its toxicity, in Israel, as in many other countries, the use of lead in fuel and paints was banned years ago. However, lead can still be found in old houses that have been painted with lead paint, and in house dust that comes from paint that crumbles over the years. Lead can also be found in various consumer products such as pottery, crystal glass, coating of electrical cables, batteries, bullets and various consumer products such as makeup, jewelry, and even in sweets.

Pipes and various plumbing fittings can also contain lead. As a result, so does the water that flows through them. The lead can enter the water as a result of the wear of old plumbing materials, or when the composition of the water that flows through it changes. The amount of lead in the pipes and the period of time that the lead comes in contact with the water also affect the level of lead that will flow into the water. The longer the water comes into contact with plumbing fixtures, the greater the chance of a leak. This issue is very important in the aspect of schools, because in schools there are long periods of time when water is not used - during the night, on weekends, holidays and in the summer months - which may increase the risk of high lead levels in the drinking water.

Lead in half of the faucets tested

It happened two years ago The water pollution crisis in Flint, during which the residents of the city of Flint in Michigan, USA, were exposed to dangerous levels of lead in the drinking water - including many children. A new study reveals that the water harmed not only the children's health, but also their mental abilities (such as, for example, The reading ability of students in schools).

Following the disaster, many states, communities and parents across the US came to the disturbing realization that federal laws do not require most schools and preschools to test the quality of drinking water. Following public pressure and the hard work of environmental activists and journalists, many states in the US have begun to test the quality of water in schools.

A year ago, for example, the governor of New York approved a historic law that requires schools across the country to test the quality of their drinking water. This is what New York became to the first country in the USA which requires tests for the presence of lead in the drinking water in schools. According to the law, the schools will be required to perform repeated tests for lead every five years.

Following the legislation in New York, other states also began promoting legislation that protects children from exposure to lead. In New Jersey, for example, after some school tests revealed high levels of lead in the drinking water, the governor of the state ordered that all 3,000 schools in the country undergo tests to detect lead in the drinking water - and allocated 10 million dollars to finance the tests. in MassachusettsLead was found above the standard More than half of the drinking faucets tested in the schools, and now environmental activists are trying to promote a law that would require all schools, kindergartens and preschools to carry out annual tests for the presence of lead in the water.

In every structure the situation is different

The supply of drinking water in Israel is mainly based on the pumping of groundwater, surface water (water from the Sea of ​​Galilee, water from springs and streams) and desalinated seawater, whichmake up 80 percent of the water supplied to the domestic consumer. Ensuring the quality of drinking water is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and is done in coordination with the municipal water suppliers, who are responsible for performing water quality tests.

The quality of the drinking water is regularly checked by the water suppliers, and a number of microbial and chemical indices are measured in them, as stipulated inPublic health regulations (sanitary quality of drinking water). Sampling for drinking water quality Conducted in the water sources, the storage facilities, the treatment facilities and the public supply systems. Yet, There is no legal obligation to conduct tests on the water that comes out of the tap - in homes or public institutions such as schools. "The water corporations are the ones responsible for carrying out the tests within the municipal supply network, but they are responsible for the infrastructure, only up to the point of connection to the consumer," explains Sarit Caspi-Oron, head of water, chemicals and health at the "Adam Teva and Din" organization. This creates a situation where the water in public institutions, including schools, remains without regular supervision.

On the website of the Ministry of Health, you can look at periodic reports of the water quality from the past years carried out by the water suppliers at various points in the supply system. "Data from the years 2016-2014 show that lead was discovered in 35 percent of the samples, in concentrations lower than the standard requirements of 10 mcg/l. "Lead concentrations exceeding the standard requirements were found in three percent of the samples," the report concludes "Health and Environment in Israel 2017" of the Health and Environment Fund, which was recently published. These samples do give a systemic picture of the state of water quality in the supply system, but do not represent the situation in every house or building that receives water from the water company, because every building has different pipes and different accessories, which affect the quality of the water consumed by the residents of the building.

increasing the risk to public health

In 2004, Israeli standard 5452 was established, which defines "requirements regarding the suitability for use of products that come into contact with drinking water (pipes, accessories, valves, faucets) with reference to their effect on water quality." Also, in order to reduce the public's exposure to lead as much as possible, the standard was updated in 2013, so that the lead content in products that come into contact with drinking water does not exceed 0.25 percent. The new standard was supposed to close the loophole that was created and ensure that the water quality in homes and public institutions is normal.

At the same time, the drinking water regulations were also updated, and consumers were given the option to perform tests on the private water system. According to the updated regulations, any consumer, resident, business owner and company owner can summon the water supplier to perform a metal test - which the consumer has to pay for out of his own pocket. Of course, most consumers are not aware of this "right", and thus there is no clear picture of the state of the water in our taps.

Many of the schools in Israel were built many years ago, so they have old plumbing pipes and fittings that contain lead. Over the years, weathering processes occur in the pipes, which can cause lead to leak into the drinking water. The drinking water regulations that have been updated in recent years do not apply to the old plumbing systems that exist in most schools. In addition, it is difficult to enforce the regulations regarding the use of lead in plumbing fittings, and it is possible that materials that contain lead continue to be used.

These concerns led the Ministry of Health in 2011 sample individually the drinking water in private homes and public institutions throughout Israel. "There is a concern that a significant part of the accessories in the public and private supply systems do not meet the requirements of the standard, both due to the age of the systems and due to the lack of care in its implementation," the introduction to the survey states. "The fact that in Israel there is no regular and reasonable supervision of the performance of plumbing works, and there is no obligation to perform them by a professional, may lead to the installation of non-standard plumbing fittings, without protection against corrosion, and the phenomena of metals migrating into the water, and increasing the risk to public health."

In the survey, only 272 sites were examined, of which only 41 were public institutions. The test conducted in public institutions (hospitals, hotels and schools) brings up disturbing results: lead was found in 12 percent of the samples, and in 2 percent of the samples lead was found in a concentration that was above the standard.

Seven years have passed since the tests in the schools. What is the situation there today? Today there is no way to know that.

Change in the water mix

as mentioned, Babies and children are especially sensitive to the dangerous effects of lead. Their bodies absorb more lead than adults: while adults absorb only about 10 percent of the lead they are exposed to, children absorb up to 70 percent. Lead can affect almost all body systems. In children, even low levels of lead in the blood can cause neurocognitive problems. But the exposure is also harmful to adults: it affects the kidneys and blood pressure, along with an effect on cardiovascular diseases. "Children's exposure to lead is harmful, and it is better to reduce it as much as possible," says Caspi Oron. "Exposure in children harms their further development and can damage intelligence and behavior. It can cause neurological damage that does not occur in adults, so we need to act more carefully in institutions that serve children.'

The Israeli standard for the presence of lead in water, based on European standards and a recommendation by the World Health Organization, is 10 mcg (micrograms per liter), but it is based on "analytical and therapeutic capabilities" - that is, on the measurement capability of the existing equipment. This is while, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, The target concentration of lead in water should be zero, since it is now known that there is no level of exposure to lead that is considered safe for children. American Academy of Pediatrics though recently updated its guidelinesAnd stated that even low levels of lead can cause irreversible damage that includes cognitive, developmental and behavioral impairment.

is also In the position of the Israeli Ministry of Health regarding lead It is written that "one should strive to reduce exposure to this metal as much as possible, with an emphasis on groups that are hyper-sensitive to its health damages."

Another concern that arises these days stems from the increased use of desalinated water in Israel's water supply system. A change in the water mix, which leads to a change in its chemical composition, can affect the way the plumbing reacts to the water - something that may encourage the emission of lead. This is exactly what happened in the lead disaster in Flint, where the city's water source was replaced, causing a chemical change in the water and lead leaking from the pipes. "Since testing for heavy metals is not routinely performed in tap water in residential homes or institutions in Israel, it is not known whether larger amounts of desalinated water in the supply systems affect the leakage of lead and other heavy metals into the tap water," warns the 2017 Health and Environment in Israel report.

Reducing exposure requires testing

Reducing exposure requires first knowing if there is exposure, and we won't know that if we don't check. The Ministry of Health recently reported its intention to conduct another survey in which the quality of water in educational institutions will also be tested. When exactly this will happen and to what extent - all this is still unknown. Caspi Oron welcomes the decision and recommends "to start with the older schools, where it is known that the infrastructure is not according to the new standard, to continue according to the year of construction and make sure that the water quality meets the standard, and if not - to prepare a plan to replace the infrastructure."

As long as there is no data on the quality of the water in the schools and the water suppliers are not obligated to conduct water tests, Kaspi Oron emphasizes that "it is important that parents and school administrators know that they have the right to invite the water supplier to conduct tests on the water system." Testing for heavy metals (including lead) will cost around NIS 500, and more if bacterial contaminants, turbidity and traces of disinfectants are also tested. "It is true that this is a significant amount", she adds, "but if there is concern, it is worthwhile to organize as an institution and conduct some tests, to see if there is a problem that needs to be addressed."

comments

The Ministry of Education stated in response that The matter is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.

from the Israeli Consumer Council, which previously conducted an examination on the subject, stated that "the survey was carried out 7 years ago and there is no record of this examination".

The Ministry of Health stated in response that "The water suppliers are responsible for the quality of the water until the water clock at the entrance to the consumers. Within the boundaries of the property, the property owner is responsible. Regarding the educational institutions, there is responsibility for the local authority and the institution itself. The regulations for drinking water allow consumers to contact the water supplier to sample the water in their taps (for a fee), thus educational institutions are also included. The regulation applies to every consumer, thus also valid in schools. Unfortunately, the awareness of the issue is not high enough, and this despite the fact that the issue has been published several times. We do not follow up on the performance of tests by the water suppliers at the consumers, because they have no obligation to perform the tests at their own expense.

"The Ministry of Health is aware of the problematic nature of some of the buildings in the country with old and poor-quality plumbing, and therefore mandates that new plumbing meet the requirements of TI 5452. In addition, the Ministry of Health has a general instruction to first inject water into a water system after it has been unused for a long period of time. TI 5452 was published in 2004. Before that, the issue was not settled. There was a general statement in some water fittings installations that a fitting was required to be suitable for drinking water. On the other hand, today's demand is clear and unequivocal. BTI 5452 is required to carry out many tests for the fitting of the accessory to come into contact with drinking water. This is a strict standard as is customary throughout the western world.

"Beyond publicizing the importance of the standard and adhering to it, the Ministry of Health is currently conducting another survey on the issue of trace metals (iron, lead and copper) in water systems, with special reference to educational institutions, in order to learn more closely about the state of water quality in educational institutions."

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