Report calls for tougher lead testing standards for Pa. school districts

A new analysis of how drinking water in some Pennsylvania school districts is tested for lead finds the current “test and fix” policy is inadequate for protecting children.

The report released Wednesday by PennEnvironment finds that schools can avoid remediation measures, while still being compliant with state law.

“Even those districts acting completely within the law may still, thanks to shortcomings in the law itself, fail in their obligation to protect their students from lead,” the report said.

Children can be exposed to lead through contaminated food and water or breathing in dust from lead paint. From there, lead can build up in the body, causing behavioral problems and affecting brain development.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no safe level of lead in the blood.

Through Right-to-Know requests, PennEnvironment reviewed records from nine of the largest school districts across the state: Altoona, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Norristown, Scranton, Upper Darby, West Chester, and York.

It found issues such as failing to test annually, testing only a few taps or fountains per district, and not making results easily accessible online.

State law allows districts to skip testing as long as the issue of lead is addressed at one school board meeting that year, which the report found occurred in Altoona, Norristown, and West Chester.

The RTK requests were made between Oct. 12, 2023 and Jan. 9, 2024. Some districts have updated their records since then.

Harrisburg School District shared the results of its most recent round of tests from Jan. 24 and 25. The report by Element Environmental Solutions, Inc. found “All 99 samples collected, and analyzed…indicated results of lead in drinking water below the [Environmental Protection Agency] Action Level.”

“This information has been posted on the District’s website under Board Docs and available to the public since February 2024,” said Kirsten Keys, public relations coordinator for Harrisburg School District. “The District also has water fountains in each school, most of which have been updated in recent years to include bottle fillers.”

Instead of waiting to confirm a problem, PennEnvironment’s executive director David Masur said districts should rely on previous studies that found evidence of a widespread problem.

“School districts should stop testing for lead and they should start remediating the problem,” he said.

Lead levels in water can fluctuate over time as environmental factors degrade pipes. This means it’s difficult to get an accurate picture of the issue from irregular testing or testing only limited outlets.

The Environmental Protection Agency has set the drinking water standard for lead at 15 parts per billion. Others have called for tougher standards; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 1 ppb for school drinking fountains.

PennEnvironment is calling on the state legislature to be proactive in protecting children’s’ health. It recommends mandating installation of drinking water filters in all school buildings and providing funding to do so.

Bills in the state House and Senate propose a filter mandate and $30 million over three years to fund the effort. Neither bill has gotten a vote this session.

In the meantime, Masur said districts should follow examples set by those in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, which have already been adding filters to drinking water outlets.

In a statement, the Pennsylvania Department of Education said ensuring students have safe and healthy school facilities is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration.

“Despite PDE’s limited authority, we are committed to supporting measures that ensure school children and staff are not exposed to health risks, including working with multi-agency and statewide lead and asbestos initiatives and the enforcement of environmental laws by other agencies,” said PDE press secretary Erin James.

James noted the state created the Lead Testing in School and Child Care Program Drinking Water program through the Department of Environmental Protection and PENNVEST to help schools get water quality data and determine the next steps for removing lead. James said from 2021 to 2023, PENNVEST’s contractor enrolled nearly 500 qualified facilities, trained over 250 users on a web-based training platform, assisted over 250 sample events, and analyzed over 1,500 drinking samples through a state-accredited laboratory.

The state has several funding streams that schools can take advantage of to remediate lead. Last year’s state budget included $75 million for schools to make environmental repairs and improvements. This year’s budget authorized another $100 million for repairs.

Masur credits the legislature for recognizing that schools are dealing with many environmental health hazards and making money available. But he said when money is not specifically allocated for lead abatement, it can be used to address other issues that schools see as more urgent, such as mold or asbestos.

“Setting the requirement that they must replace this [drinking water] equipment is key,” Masur said.

This story is produced in partnership with StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration among WESA, The Allegheny Front, WITF and WHYY.