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Home My WebLink About‘We need to start acting on this’: Expert backs former trustee’s call to test for lead in Alberta’s school drinking water - Toronto Star - 04/25/2018 - Toronto Star - 04/25/20184/25/2018 `We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star TI If, STAR EDMONTON IK This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation -ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com 'We need to start acting on this: Expert backs former trusteels call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water dangerously Tests in Ontario and B.C. last year revealed dozens of schools had drinking water sources with .a Testing in Ontario and B.C. last year found dangerous levels of lead in dozens of schools, but e tests. never b.. requiredf., MCCONNELL / TORONTO STAR) https://www.thestar.com/ed monton/2018/04/25/we-need-to-start-acting-on-this-expert-backs-former-trustees-cal I -to -test -for -lead -i n-albertas-school-dri nking-water. html 4/25/2018 'We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star By KEVIN MAIMANN StarMetro Edmonton Wed., April 25, 2ol 8 EDMONTON — A former Edmonton Catholic School Board trustee wants to get the lead out. Marilyn Bergstra is pushing for mandatory third -party lead testing in Alberta schools after researching the dangers of lead in water as part of a master's program at the University of Waterloo. Testing in Ontario and B.C. last year found dangerous levels of lead in dozens of schools, but the tests have never been required in Alberta. "Common sense would tellwe have a shared infrastructure going back to that period in time, and if both Ontario and B.C. have tested with alarming results ... there's a good chance Alberta would share similar results," Bergstra said. Marc Edwards, a civil and environmental engineer at Virginia Tech who is an expert on lead in water, said every province should test its schools. He worked with Ontario when the province started testing several years ago and has helped strengthen water safety there. "If you're not hearing about lead in school water, that's bad news. Because if you test for it, you will find it," Edwards said. "We need to start acting on this." Edwards said lead adversely affects every system in the human body, and kids are especially susceptible. According to the World Health Organization, children absorb up to five times more ingested lead than adults. A Government of Alberta health website notes symptoms are easy to miss in children but can include lower intelligence, smaller size, behavioural problems, learning problems and a lack of energy. Canada's maximum acceptable concentration for lead in drinking water is o.ol mg/L, but Edwards said there is no safe level of lead for children. "That's not to be alarmist. We all were lead -exposed when we ewe ere kids, moreso than todaffli. Gee nerallgr . , lead ttosurfrom all sourcs, All of thesthi P w're exe !�ms are true," Edwards said. "But it is generally considered time to take this bull by the horns https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/20l8/O4/25/we-need-to-start-acting-on-this-expert-backs-former-trustees-call-to-test-for-lead-in-albertas-school-drinking-water.html 4/25/2018 'We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star Edwards said the problem with schools is not that they are likely to have lead pipes — those are mostly in single-family detached homes — but that their plumbing is likely to contain galvanized iron, solder and leaded brass. "Lead leeching gets worse the more the water sits around. And schools are bad because water sits around a lot, especially int e warm summer months, for example," he said. "So we pretty often find high levels of lead in schools, and you almost expect that. There are very few exceptions." Lead pipes were used in many structures through the 195os, and lead soldering was used on copper pipes until the mid-1970s in Canada. Edmonton Catholic Schools spokesperson Lori Nagy said 59 of the district's 96 schools were built before 1975. Nagy said the district does a Hazardous Materials Survey that looks at lead as well as asbestos and other materials. She said the tests have never found lead levels that exceed Canada's guidelines. Not every school in the district has been tested, however. :Jill confident in the safety of the drinking water in all of the district's schools. Rosa said water quality is tested "as needed at critical points in a school's lifecycle," such as during 0 Rosa said custodial staff flush water lines after summer, winter and spring breaks — a practice recommended by Health Canada. TiTrEii,Tfr(;Tn-im.plr pal -L in a TUM/ ( IF)W7dYMI RTTI� water quality with EPCOR, the University of Alberta and Capital Health, which found its water -quality standards are "acceptable." Public health physician Louis Francescutti said authorities are likely hesitant to require testing for two reasons: redoing plumbing is expensive, and some people are likely to file lawsuits once they find out their kids were exposed to lead. Tesperislin in ail Fina C 11 and dayeares can contract private accredited laboratories to do lead analysis, and Alberta Health can help interpret results. He said the province is currently "developing options" to support schools in assessing the risk of lead exposure through drinking water. https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/20l8/O4/25/we-need-to-start-acting-on-this-expert-backs-former-trustees-call-to-test-for-lead-in-albertas-school-drinking-water.html 4/25/2018 'We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star "As a first step, we are reviewing existing data on lead in drinking water from previous 1 116111 111 1111111111111 M Last September, an investigation ordered by the B.C. government showed drinking water in more than half of the province's school districts had unsafe levels of lead. Two districts exceeded the acceptable limit by more than 50 per cent. anc?�!ycares 77,41.7tario taile to meet provinciai Yeaci stanciarc[s, ciespite Vintarnio Waving Canada's most stringent program for monitoring lead in school drinking water. Some schools had lead concentrations up to 300 times higher than the threshold of io parts per billion. 0 I OEM= "They tend to go to older schools, they live in older homes, sothe situation is exacerbated," she said. Galvanized iron pipes are coated with zinc that sometimes has one per cent lead by weight or more. Their use has been uncommon since the 1970s, as plastic and copper are seen as superior materials for piping, but Edwards said some communities allowed galvanized iron as recently as last year. Leaded brass had lead purposely added to make it easier to maufacture intricate plumbing parts until as recently as 2014. Brass pipes used in new buildings no longer have added lead but still contain small amounts. Solder is the glue used on copper pipes, and it typically had 50 per cent lead by weight until r# The lue can seep inside the pipes at high levels, depending e on th g ead more about: Edmonton, Albert� https://www.thestar. com/ed monton /201 8/04/25/we- n eed-to-sta rt -a cti ng -on -th is -expert -backs -former -trustees -cal I -to-test-for-I ead -i n -a I b e rta s -school -d ri n ki n g-wate r. htm I 4/25/2018 'We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star C 1-1 opyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Kublication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior writterf consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/20l8/O4/25/we-need-to-start-acting-on-this-expert-backs-former-trustees-call-to-test-for-lead-in-albertas-school-drinking-water.html 4/25/2018 `We need to start acting on this': Expert backs former trustee's call to test for lead in Alberta's school drinking water I The Star https://www.thestar.com/ed monton/2018/O4/25/we-need-to-sta rt-acti ng-on-th is -expert -backs -former -trustees -cal I -to -test -for -lead -i n-albertas-school-dri nking-water. html