Editor’s note: This commentary is by Renee Ancel, of Montpelier, who is a wellness coach and fitness instructor. She is a former foreign lawyer.
I’m asking you to contact your state representative to advocate for S.40: “An Act relating to testing and remediation of lead in the drinking water of schools and child care facilities.”
A pilot program done by the Health Department last year revealed that 16 out of 16 schools tested had at least one drinking water tap with lead levels above the Vermont Health Advisory. Gov. Phil Scott proposed in his address to the Legislature this year to solve the problem by making it mandatory to test drinking water at schools for lead with state funds. This is how S.40 was proposed. The Senate set the limit to 3 parts per billion (ppb) and unanimously voted to approve the bill on Feb. 14. Since that vote, S.40 went to the House and the allowable limit/action level was raised to 5 ppb. That is 2 ppb higher than the Senate’s proposal. Legislators seem to be more concerned about the short-term cost than the long-term costs and effects of lead. The House is expected to vote on S.40 this week. Please take a minute out of your day and tell your state representative to set the lead limit at 1 ppb and to vote Yes on S40!
No level of lead is safe – period. Scientists, pediatricians, doctors, EPA, WHO all agree that lead isn’t safe. “Once lead enters the body, it is distributed to organs such as the brain, kidneys, liver and bones,” says WHO. Lead is so toxic to the body that WHO has identified it as 1 of 10 chemicals of major public health concern. Those who grew up with lower lead standards can’t make the connection that osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, liver issues, kidney disease, arthritis, mental fog and other mental illnesses can be due to early and daily exposure to lead.
Our children are exposed to unsafe lead levels every day at school and daycare. This is where they spend most of their time. As the EPA states on its website: “Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than in adults. A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells.”
As a state we are spending millions of dollars every year on rising health care costs, paying special educators and special care givers, and loosing work-days with sick time for something we can fix. Call your legislator and ask them to set the limit/action level to 1 ppb. Ask them, what is the use of saving a few dollars today if tomorrow we have to spend millions fixing the repercussions? Let them know that in the case of our health, it isn’t only the monetary cost but the heart-breaking cost of seeing your loved one struggle or be sick.
