The horrific water crisis in Flint, Michigan has sent the entire country into a tizzy as school officials around the United States are testing classroom sinks and cafeteria faucets for lead in attempt to uncover any concealed problems to reassure anxious parents. Unfortunately, the findings thus far have not been positive.
According to a recent report by John Seewer of The Associated Press, just a fraction of schools and daycare centers nationwide are required to check for lead because most receive their water from municipal systems that test at other locations, and more than 275 have violated federal lead levels, resulting in state and federal lawmakers calling for wider testing.
“Among schools and day care centers operating their own water systems, Environmental Protection Agency data analyzed by The Associated Press showed that 278 violated federal lead levels at some point during the past three years. Roughly a third of those had lead levels that were at least double the federal limit.
In almost all cases, the problems can be traced to aging buildings with lead pipes, older drinking fountains and water fixtures that have parts made with lead.
Riverside Elementary in the northern Wisconsin town of Ringle has lead pipes buried in its concrete foundation that used to leach into the tap water before a filtration system was installed. Replacing the pipes, which were installed when the school was built in the 1970s, is not an option.
“For the cost of that, you might as well build a new school,” said Jack Stoskopf, an assistant superintendent. Instead, he said, school officials decided to rip out the drinking fountains more than a decade ago and buy bottled water for students, costing about $1,000 a month.”
Apparently, buying bottled water for students has been implemented into more schools than what may have been suspected, despite the higher costs.
“Buying bottled water for drinking has been the routine at Ava Head Start in Ava, Missouri, even before lead levels spiked after the preschool moved into a new building in 2010.
But it was not until February, after another round of high test results, that state regulators told the preschool to use bottled water for cooking and cleaning the toothbrushes for the 59 children, ages 3 and 4.
“The cost is not an option,” said Sandra Porter, Ava’s cook and water operator. “We’re just doing what we have to.”
Schools required to conduct lead testing represent only about 1 of every 10 schools in the country. Those receiving their water from city-owned systems — an estimated 90,000, according to the EPA — are not required by the federal government to do so.”
According to the report from The Associated Press, the average age of school buildings dates to the early 1970s. It was not until 1986 that lead pipes were banned, and it wasn’t until 2014 that brass fixtures were ordered to be virtually lead-free.
This major concern facing the entire country only emphasizes the general need for bio-detoxification. Simple steps that could go a long way in reducing the effect of this toxic burden that basically involve limiting the uptake of toxins-whether pollutants, pesticides or heavy metals, and enhancing their safer removal from the body.
Below is a video about D-penicillamine in toxic metal detoxification from Dr. Russell Jaffe:
Here are a few other beneficial resources to read:
Get The Lead Out Safely & Naturally
GGOBE Diet
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