TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing lead exposure in school water
T2 - Evidence from remediation efforts in New York City public schools
AU - Latham, Scott
AU - Jennings, Jennifer L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Following the Flint Water Crisis, many states passed legislation requiring schools to measure and remediate lead in school drinking water. In this study, we present new evidence on the level and distribution of lead in school drinking water by examining the case of New York City, which tested water from every public school fixture in the 2016-17 school year, remediated fixtures that showed elevated levels of lead above 15 ppb, and retested a sample of fixtures in 2018–19. Prior to remediation, 8 % of fixtures showed elevated levels of lead; after remediation, 5 % of fixtures did. In both pre- and post-remediation periods, Black children attended schools with a higher proportion of elevated fixtures than White, Asian, and Hispanic children. We observe post-remediation lead exposure reductions that were largest for Black children, though racial disparities in exposure remained. Together, our results show that New York City's remediation efforts significantly reduced lead in its schools' drinking water in a short period of time, providing evidence of the promise of such efforts. However, the continued presence of lead in school drinking water and persistent racial disparities in exposure demonstrate the ongoing challenges to eradicating lead exposure in schools.
AB - Following the Flint Water Crisis, many states passed legislation requiring schools to measure and remediate lead in school drinking water. In this study, we present new evidence on the level and distribution of lead in school drinking water by examining the case of New York City, which tested water from every public school fixture in the 2016-17 school year, remediated fixtures that showed elevated levels of lead above 15 ppb, and retested a sample of fixtures in 2018–19. Prior to remediation, 8 % of fixtures showed elevated levels of lead; after remediation, 5 % of fixtures did. In both pre- and post-remediation periods, Black children attended schools with a higher proportion of elevated fixtures than White, Asian, and Hispanic children. We observe post-remediation lead exposure reductions that were largest for Black children, though racial disparities in exposure remained. Together, our results show that New York City's remediation efforts significantly reduced lead in its schools' drinking water in a short period of time, providing evidence of the promise of such efforts. However, the continued presence of lead in school drinking water and persistent racial disparities in exposure demonstrate the ongoing challenges to eradicating lead exposure in schools.
KW - Health policy
KW - Inequality
KW - Lead exposure
KW - Lead remediation
KW - School drinking water
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111993880&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111735
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111735
M3 - Article
C2 - 34331917
AN - SCOPUS:85111993880
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 203
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 111735
ER -