LEAD PIPE CINCH….The Washington DC water district is finally getting serious about lead:
D.C. health officials plan to announce today that all pregnant women and children younger than 6 who live in homes with lead service lines should immediately stop drinking unfiltered tap water and have their blood tested, a rare safety measure they say is necessary to safeguard the city’s most vulnerable population.
….WASA conducted tests last summer on tap water at 6,118 residences, and most of them, 4,075 homes, had water that exceeded the lead limit set by the EPA in 1991. This is the first time the city’s water has shown significant lead contamination since the late 1980s, officials said.
It’s about damn time. There’s compelling evidence that lead levels even well below the federal standards cause large IQ drops in small children, and there’s just no reason we should be taking chances with this stuff anymore. If DC can replace all its lead pipes for eight bucks a month on local water bills, they should do it.
Right now.
