Lead Paint Believed to Be in Most Schools

The California Department of Health Services released a study Friday estimating that nearly 78% of the state’s public elementary schools contain potentially hazardous lead paint and that about 18% have excessive lead in drinking water.

The agency concluded that the hazard to children is slight because lead paint is only harmful if ingested and no known examples of lead poisoning in the state have resulted from drinking water.

“We do not know of any case of a child in California or nationwide who has been lead-poisoned by a school,” said Larrie Lance, chief of the lead hazard reduction section of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch.

Even though about 38% of the 200 randomly selected schools examined had paint in deteriorating condition, the possibility of ingestion remains small, Lance said.

“The most vulnerable children are the ones who are much younger, who are on their hands and knees and are exploring their world through their hands and mouths,” she said.

The report recommended procedures by which schools can keep lead paint from being stirred up and can test drinking fountains, replacing those that are introducing lead into the water.

Over the next three years, the agency will train staff in every school district in the state in “lead-safe practices,” Lance said.

“The message is: Do things safely,” she said. “It’s easy to do. It’s not rocket science.”

Safety procedures involve the use of enclosures and vacuums to prevent the escape of lead during paint removal.

Lead leaching from pipes and drinking fountains poses the greatest risk of exposure, she said.

Lead exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum safety level of 15 parts per billion was found at 10.5% of the schools where the plumbing fixtures had been used within 24 hours. The rate was expected to be higher for those used less frequently.

Schools should have procedures for flushing fountains to drain away accumulated lead before children arrive each day. The water should run until it noticeably cools, indicating that it comes directly from the main line. “We know main water is clean,” Lance said.

Eventually, every school should test every drinking fountain and replace fixtures and pipes when excessive lead is detected, she said.

Lance said the only known cases of lead poisoning from water in California involve drinks that have been stored in ceramic pitchers that leach lead.

Ground contamination also poses a problem, though a less serious one. About 6% of elementary school campuses have lead contamination in the soil. The report recommended fencing off areas that contain the tainted earth.

The study was mandated by the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act, adopted by the Legislature in 1992.

The act required the health department to determine lead prevalence and hazards in public elementary schools and child-care facilities and to evaluate procedures for dealing with it.

Lead exposure can cause behavioral problems and permanent neurological deficits, including loss of intelligence.