10/08/2024

EPA Requires Removal of All U.S. Lead Pipes in a Decade

This is a landmark move by the agency

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule requiring water utilities to replace all lead pipes within a decade, a move aimed at eliminating a toxic threat that continues to affect tens of thousands of American children each year.

The move, which also tightens the amount of lead allowed in the nation’s drinking water, comes nearly 40 years after Congress determined that lead pipes posed a serious risk to public health and banned them in new construction.

Research has shown that lead, a toxic contaminant that seeps from pipes into the drinking water supply, can cause irreversible developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral problems among children. In adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lead exposure can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.