Potential Challenges Meeting the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Lead in School Drinking Water Goal of 1 μg/L

Concern about lead in drinking water has heightened since the Flint water crisis. Moreover, recent medical evidence increasingly shows damage to children’s health at levels of lead exposure once considered low. In order to better protect children from these hazards, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that drinking water in public schools does not exceed 1 μg/L lead. Meeting this goal with current plumbing and fixtures will be challenging, because current “lead-free” standards did not anticipate targets this low. Three styles of recently manufactured “lead-free” faucets were tested and average lead leaching ranged from 1.5 μg/L to 3.0 μg/L after 19 d. Given that the NSF/ANSI 61 test water is less aggressive than some potable waters, even newly manufactured “lead-free” faucets may not meet the standards recommended by AAP.