Lead in drinking water is the #1 environmental health threat to children in the U.S.

Next to chlorine‚ lead is the most common contaminant found in tap water. Lead in drinking water usually originates between the water main in the street and the household faucet‚ so treatment from a central point is not logical or practical. Most lead in drinking water comes from lead lined pipes‚ lead solder and brass plumbing fixtures inside your home. All chrome-plated brass and brass plumbing fixtures contain 8% to 15% lead. The EPA estimates that 98% of all homes have pipes‚ fixtures or solder joints in the household plumbing that can leach some level of lead into the tap water.

It has been determined and recognized by the EPA that there is no safe level for lead in drinking water and that any level poses some degree of adverse health effects‚ especially to small children.

Even very low levels of lead can cause reduced IQs‚ learning disabilities and behavioral problems such as hypertension and reduced attention span in children. And often the effects of lead are life long and irreversible.

One study‚ done in Baltimore MD‚ showed that children with high blood-lead levels had a significantly higher rate of problem behaviors than children with low blood levels and concluded that "this study lends support to the belief that undue exposure to lead in childhood years may have a pervasive influence on the prevalence of juvenile delinquency in this country."

In adults‚ lead in drinking water causes high blood pressure and reduces hemoglobin production necessary for oxygen transport and it interferes with normal cellular calcium metabolism. Water borne lead affects every one in a very tragic and permanent way. Lead exposure is cumulative and long lasting. This toxic metal is stored by the body‚ primarily in teeth and bones.

Essentially‚ lead has a very damaging effect on the body‘s electrical system‚ the nervous system. It causes the critical life giving messages‚ sent from the brain to every cell and organ in our body‚ to become distorted. This results in the onset of a chain of adverse health effects.

It is estimated by the U.S. EPA that lead in drinking water contributes to 480‚000 cases of learning disorders in children and 560‚000 cases of hypertension in adults‚ each year in the U.S. alone.

In the first quarter of 1993‚ the EPA released a first-time report that showed the results of the new "test at the tap" requirements for lead in drinking water. The report documented that in America‚ 42 states exceeded the legal limits of lead in drinking water and that other states failed to do the required testing. Some areas had lead levels in excess of 450 parts per billion‚ thirty times the legal limit of 15 ppb. The level the EPA has set as the safe level‚ or MCLG (maximum contaminant level goal)‚ is -0- ppb.

Essentially‚ every household with indoor plumbing has some level of lead in the plumbing structure that may represent a health risk.

The biggest tragedy of lead contamination from drinking water is that it is completely preventable. By taking a few simple steps‚ beginning with Point-Of-Use filtration of our drinking water‚ we can virtually eliminate the crippling effects of lead on our society‚ and most importantly on our children.