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Lead and Drinking Water
Lead is a soft, silvery-grey heavy metal that has been
used since Roman times for many useful purposes. Unfortunately, lead is also
quite toxic to people, especially children.
Where is lead found? Lead
is mined from rocks and soil. The most common sources of human exposure to
lead are paint, soil, and dust. The primary source of lead in drinking water
is household plumbing that can introduce lead from lead pipes, lead solder,
or fixtures with lead alloys such as brass. Lead can also be found in the
piping and submersible pump systems used in private wells. Lead levels in
drinking water increase with acidic and soft water and with the length of
time the water is left standing in a leaded plumbing system. Lead plumbing
was eliminated from new construction in the 1950s and lead solder was banned
in the late -1980s. Is lead a health concern?
The maximum acceptable concentration for lead in drinking
water is 0.01 mg/L (Ontario Drinking Water Standards). Although high
concentrations of lead can be harmful to all people, fetuses and children up
to six years of age are most susceptible to the adverse health effects of
lead. Studies show that exposure to even low levels of lead prior to birth
(e.g., as a fetus) or during early childhood can cause damage to
intellectual and behavioural development.
Water with lead levels above 0.01 mg/L should not be used to prepare
powdered or concentrated baby formula. If your water does have elevated lead
levels, you should prepare baby formula with water from an alternative
source that is known to be safe.
The safest source of water for all those at risk is a municipal drinking
water supply that has not been delivered through lead pipes.
What can I do? Determine if
your plumbing contains lead and consider replacing some or all lead piping.
If you rent an older apartment or old house (built before the mid 1950s),
ask your landlord about having the pipes replaced. If you have lead
plumbing, do not use water from the hot water tap for drinking or cooking.
Hot water dissolves lead more quickly than cold water. If water has been
standing in pipes for more than five hours (e.g., overnight) it should be
run for at least five minutes or until the water turns cold. This flushing
only needs to be done for water used for drinking and cooking.
Can I Test For Lead? Water
can be tested for lead. Home test kits available at many plumbing and
hardware stores only test for the presence of lead and should not be relied
upon to provide actual lead levels. For an actual lead level, a sample must
be sent to a professional analytical laboratory for analysis. Contact your
local municipality to find out if a lead testing program for municipal water
is available. For more information contact a Public
Health Inspector:
MAIN
OFFICE
458 Laurier Blvd
Brockville,
Ontario
K6V 7A3
613-345-5685
fax 613-345-2879 |
BRANCH
OFFICE
52 Abbott Street N., Unit 2
Smiths Falls,
Ontario
K7A 1W3
613-283-2740
fax 613-283-1679 |
Links
Ministry of the Environment
US Environmental Protection Agency
CMHC
MOE
Health Canada 
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