Do you know what’s in the water at your student’s school?
Many schools test their drinking water for lead over the summer months, but the results are not often proactively shared with parents and caregivers.
You have a right to know if your student’s health is at risk and what is being done to protect them!
As back-to-school gets underway, the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) recommends that parents and caregivers take the following three steps to help protect kids from being exposed to lead:
- Ask for information about recent lead testing
- Demand that taps and fountains where lead is found be replaced, closed, or have a filter installed
- Talk to their community about the need for action on lead in school drinking water
Ask for information about recent lead testing
If your school or school board doesn’t have up-to-date and detailed lead testing data available on their website, request copies of the most recent tests from the school office.
When viewing lead testing documents, take note of:
- Which water fixture was tested
- The date of the test
- Lead test results (including what unit of measurement is being used)
In Ontario, schools are only required to take action on lead contamination when the test exceeds 10 parts-per-billion (ppb). This is an outdated standard.
Ontario is one of only two provinces and territories that has not adopted Health Canada’s recommended lead limit of 5ppb.
Demand that taps and fountains where lead is found be replaced, closed, or have a filter installed
Parents and caregivers should ask schools to take one of the following actions when lead levels at a tap or fountain exceed 5ppb:
- Identify and replace the lead plumbing components;
- Install a filter, or
- Stop using that fixture for drinking water.
Currently, the first and often only response to lead contamination is to flush water through the problem tap or fountain every morning.
The goal of this is to remove water that has been in contact with lead, but research shows that lead can return to dangerous levels just minutes or hours after flushing.
While it is the province’s responsibility to update their lead-in-schools regulation, individual schools and school boards have the power to proactively adopt modern best practices.
Talk to your community about the need for action on lead in school drinking water
By learning about lead in schools and encouraging other parents and caregivers to do the same, you can play an important role in protecting the health of all students in Ontario!
Lead is more dangerous than we previously thought and no amount of exposure is safe, especially for children.
In response to this new knowledge, the federal government and the majority of provinces and territories have changed course on how they approach the issue — shifting from a focus on limiting lead exposure to preventing it altogether.
Ontario, however, is stuck in the past.
The more voices we have calling for change, the harder it will be for schools, school boards and the province to maintain the status quo!
Please read and share the following resources about the need to get lead out of school drinking water:
For more information, please contact
Julie Mutis, Community Outreach Worker, Canadian Environmental Law Association, 1-844-755-1420 or 416-960-2284 ext. 7221 or julie@cela.ca
Blog: Back to school means it’s time to ask about lead in school drinking water
Do you know what’s in the water at your student’s school?
Many schools test their drinking water for lead over the summer months, but the results are not often proactively shared with parents and caregivers.
You have a right to know if your student’s health is at risk and what is being done to protect them!
As back-to-school gets underway, the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) recommends that parents and caregivers take the following three steps to help protect kids from being exposed to lead:
Ask for information about recent lead testing
If your school or school board doesn’t have up-to-date and detailed lead testing data available on their website, request copies of the most recent tests from the school office.
When viewing lead testing documents, take note of:
In Ontario, schools are only required to take action on lead contamination when the test exceeds 10 parts-per-billion (ppb). This is an outdated standard.
Ontario is one of only two provinces and territories that has not adopted Health Canada’s recommended lead limit of 5ppb.
Demand that taps and fountains where lead is found be replaced, closed, or have a filter installed
Parents and caregivers should ask schools to take one of the following actions when lead levels at a tap or fountain exceed 5ppb:
Currently, the first and often only response to lead contamination is to flush water through the problem tap or fountain every morning.
The goal of this is to remove water that has been in contact with lead, but research shows that lead can return to dangerous levels just minutes or hours after flushing.
While it is the province’s responsibility to update their lead-in-schools regulation, individual schools and school boards have the power to proactively adopt modern best practices.
Talk to your community about the need for action on lead in school drinking water
By learning about lead in schools and encouraging other parents and caregivers to do the same, you can play an important role in protecting the health of all students in Ontario!
Lead is more dangerous than we previously thought and no amount of exposure is safe, especially for children.
In response to this new knowledge, the federal government and the majority of provinces and territories have changed course on how they approach the issue — shifting from a focus on limiting lead exposure to preventing it altogether.
Ontario, however, is stuck in the past.
The more voices we have calling for change, the harder it will be for schools, school boards and the province to maintain the status quo!
Please read and share the following resources about the need to get lead out of school drinking water:
For more information, please contact
Julie Mutis, Community Outreach Worker, Canadian Environmental Law Association, 1-844-755-1420 or 416-960-2284 ext. 7221 or julie@cela.ca
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