From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Lead Testing in School Water Description: As awareness about lead in water systems has grown, so too has concern over lead exposure in our schools. We explore the federal government’s role when it comes to testing schools’ water systems for lead. Is there room for improvement? Related GAO Work: GAO-18-382: K-12 Education: Lead Testing of School Drinking Water Would Benefit from Improved Federal Guidance Released: July 2018 [ Background Music ] [ Jackie Nowicki: ] EPA and Education can really do a better job collaborating to make sure that schools and districts are aware of this federal guidance. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. As awareness about lead in our water systems has grown, so too has concern over lead exposure in our schools. And even though the EPA is charged with regulating public water systems, there is no federal law requiring lead testing for schools' drinking water. I took a phone call with Jackie Nowicki. She's a director in our Education, Workforce, and Income Security team, and she's on the line to talk about a GAO report that explored the issue of lead in our schools’ water. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Jackie. [ Jackie Nowicki: ] It's my pleasure. [ Matt Oldham: ] So how big of an issue is lead in our schools' water? [ Jackie Nowicki: ] We have 50 million public school students here in the States, and I think, you know, those children spend a lot of time in schools, obviously. And children are at particular risk for lead exposure because their growing bodies can absorb more lead than adults. So protecting them is really important to, you know, sort of promoting their lifelong good health. [ Matt Oldham: ] So if the EPA regulates public water systems, why did your team specifically look at the schools? [ Jackie Nowicki: ] That's a great question. So it's not just about the water coming into a school's buildings or facilities. Lead can leach into water from plumbing materials like pipes that are located in a school. So if there's lead in the plumbing system, the potential for it to leach into the water gets greater the longer the water remains in contact with the pipes. And that, if you think about school schedules, so time off for weekends and holidays, you know, and over the summer, you have a greater potential for water standing in the pipes, which can sort of increase the risk as well. [ Matt Oldham: ] So Jackie, generally, are the current EPA thresholds for taking action on lead levels good enough? [ Jackie Nowicki: ] It's an important question but also a really complicated one. So there is no federal law that requires the testing of drinking water for lead in schools that receive water from these public water systems. So the federal government doesn't have a standard that all schools, you know, must adhere to for that reason. When we looked at the issue of the voluntary lead action levels that EPA was encouraging schools to consider, we found a couple of things. The main thing I think is that that guidance from EPA is, portions of it are neither clear nor accurate, and it can make it really difficult for school districts to have good information for them to make informed decisions about the levels, about whether to test and when to test, how much to test, and also what to do about lead if they find elevated lead in their, you know, in their drinking water supply. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] So it sounds like some states are testing for lead in their schools' water, but there is room for improvement in the federal efforts to address the issue. So Jackie, what recommendations did your team have? [ Jackie Nowicki: ] So we made seven recommendations to the federal agencies involved here, and I would say the key ones are that EPA really make efforts to update its guidance on how schools should be determining the levels of lead, you know, that, at which they wish to take action. And another recommendation that we thought was really key was that EPA and education can really do a better job collaborating to make sure that school and districts are aware of this federal guidance. So one of the things we found in our survey was that, of the schools that were aware of the guidance, they found it really helpful, but there were a number of schools and districts that, you know, didn't know that it existed or sort of found it hard to understand. [ Matt Oldham: ] Jackie, what would you say is the bottom line of your report? [ Jackie Nowicki: ] This is a hugely important issue when you think about the sheer number of children that can be exposed to lead in their public schools -- 50 million public school students in the United States. Think it's a really good thing that about 35 million students are attending schools where at least their water has been tested at least once, or at least some of their water has been tested at least once, but there's still, you know, close to 15 million children that are in districts that either haven't tested for lead or where the districts reported to us that they didn't know if they had tested for lead. And given the severe effects, the severe health effects that lead can have over the course of a lifetime, it's really important I think for school districts to, you know, continue to think about how to test lead, what to do when they find lead, how frequently, you know, they should be testing for lead in drinking water, and how to remediate for it. It's a huge public health issue. [ Matt Oldham: ] Jackie Nowicki is a director in our Education, Workforce, and Income Security team, and she called in to talk about a GAO report on testing the drinking water in our schools for lead. Thank you for your time, Jackie. [ Jackie Nowicki: ] It's my pleasure. Great to talk to you, Matt. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.