Alumni Action Alert: Get the lead out of schools everywhere
Many alumni asked us over the years for more opportunities to get engaged in important issues. Now we send an Alumni Action Alert each month on a particular issue or campaign The Public Interest Network is working on, along with some actions that you can take to help protect the environment, public health or the public interest.
Quick action: Use Environment America’s activist toolkit to help get lead out of drinking water in schools.
Photo credit: Lisa F. Young / Shutterstock
The problem: Medical experts estimate that more than 24 million American kids will lose IQ points due to lead exposure. U.S. PIRG research finds many of these kids will be exposed to lead in their schools’ drinking water. That’s why U.S. PIRG is working to “Get the Lead Out.”
A potent neurotoxin, lead affects how children learn, grow and behave. According to the EPA,"In children, low levels of [lead] exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells." Lead is so toxic that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a health standard of 1 part per billion.
The solution: The only way to ensure safe drinking water for our children is to “get the lead out” of our schools and pre-schools. This involves proactively removing lead-bearing parts from schools’ drinking water systems—from service lines to faucets—and installing filters certified to remove lead at every tap used for drinking or cooking.
These steps cost money, but our children's health is worth it. To convince state and local leaders to act, U.S. PIRG is running a joint campaign with Environment America to raise awareness, especially among parents and parent-teacher associations; doctors, nurses and other healthcare givers; and elected officials themselves.
This summer, a bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate includes $15 billion of the $45 billion needed to replace lead pipes and $200 million over the next five years for schools to reduce lead contamination of their water. Environment America and U.S. PIRG’s advocacy team worked to get these provisions included. The bill still has to clear the House.
In the meantime, untold numbers of kids are heading back to school and will be drinking water with lead in it. When we get lead out of a child’s water, we make that child’s future brighter and healthier. That’s something worth fighting for.
Actions you can take:
Check out Environment America’s activist toolkit and help get lead out of our schools.
If you’d like to get more involved and volunteer on this or another campaign, just reply to this message and we’ll get you hooked up.
