High Lead Levels Still Present
If you live in an older home and learned that there could be a chance it was increasing your exposure to lead in drinking water, would you up and move? Most people wouldn’t. But, many people would take the opportunity to find a product that would eliminate the exposure and risks to lead and provide safe drinking water to their families. We have those products. Our drinking water systems will make you feel safe, even after learning about a recent CDC study regarding exposure to lead and human blood lead levels in the United States.
Many changes have been made in the last few decades to protect our youth from exposure to lead, which is a common metal that accumulates in the body with disastrous results. We have come a long way from the days where exposure was all around. In fact, according to a recent article from The Food Poisoning Bulletin, “the 1970s, the United States government started to reduce lead concentrations in air, tap water, food, dust, and soil. As a result, blood lead levels (BLLs) in children have been substantially reduced. But children are still being exposed to lead, since many live in housing built before the 1978 ban on lead-based residential paint. Drinking water lines used to be made from lead, and lead solder was used in plumbing. Most of the public water utilities in the country are now in compliance” with the Safe Drinking Water Act Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) of 1991.
Since the lead bans put in place in the 1970s and 1980s, the average BLL has decreased from almost 16.0 micrograms per decaliter to less than 2.0 micrograms per decaliter. Lead has very serious health affects like reducing IQ and increasing the risk of cancer. Lead exposure also affects adults, suppressing the immune system, acting as a carcinogen, and causing peripheral neuropathy and motor nerve dysfunction. Lead exposure can also cause renal failure, gout, and hypertension, as well as suppressing and adversely affecting reproduction. BLLs of children in this country increased sharply during the period 1900 to 1975. As the article also mentions, regulations that reduced lead exposure included reducing lead in gasoline, foods, food packaging, house paint, water pipes, plumbing fixtures, and solder used in plumbing and beverage containers.
Exposure may have been reduced, but for many children and adults, it is still an issue. Consumers in older homes should pay attention to their blood lead levels if their pipes are leaking lead into tap water. The article explains that “partially replacing lead service lines actually increases lead levels in drinking water. Full replacement of lead service lines should be considered. And information about lead in plumbing should be routinely provided to homebuyers and renters.” We highly recommend a drinking water system like a reverse osmosis water filter which is a cost-effective way to reduce harmful contaminants (not just lead) from tap water. Don’t live in fear. Consider one of our drinking water systems instead.
