Most children under six in Chicago exposed to lead in water: Research

Two in three children under the age of six in Chicago are exposed to dangerous levels of lead in drinking water, according to research published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University studied data from over 38,000 voluntary home lead tests in the area over the past eight years. They found contamination in about 75 percent of residential blocks’ home drinking water and that about 68 percent of children under six are exposed to lead — 19 percent of whom primarily drink unfiltered tap water.

Moreover, the researchers determined that exposure is more likely on blocks that are majority Black and Hispanic, but that those same blocks are less likely to be tested in the first place. 

Any level of lead in drinking water is unsafe, and exposure to the toxic metal has been linked to brain damage and other developmental issues in children.

Chicago is one of the largest American cities with lead service lines remaining in its water system, with the city using them until 1986, when they were banned at the federal level. The city has an estimated 400,000 lead service lines still in operation, and the city has replaced fewer than 300 since 2020.

The Biden administration has proposed replacing every lead service line in the U.S., with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule issued in November calling for a 10-year timeline. The 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $15 billion to replace lead service lines, but some advocates have argued fully replacing lead service lines will require as much as triple that amount.

Looming over the effort is the 2014 drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., which saw mass lead contamination after a state-appointed official switched the source of the city’s drinking water from the Detroit River to the Flint River. An estimated 9.2 million lead service lines currently serve American households.