CO Get the Lead Out bill to ensure kids aren’t drinking lead-contaminated water gets first hearing today

DENVER – After a voluntary testing program found unsafe levels of lead in the majority of participating school samples, CoPIRG joined a broad coalition of child health professionals, community-based groups and advocates in calling on the Colorado House Public & Behavioral Health and Human Services committee to pass HB22-1358, the Clean Water in Schools and Child Care Centers bill, and ensure no kid is unknowingly ingesting harmful lead in their water. 

The Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Health Organization all agree that there is no safe level of lead exposure. Unfortunately, many schools and child care centers are housed in old buildings with lead in the fixtures, pipes and plumbing products exposing kids to lead. HB22-1358 requires all schools and child care centers to ensure sources of water for kids are filtered because filtration is a cost effective way to remove lead from drinking water while local communities work on the costlier, long-term effort to completely replace lead plumbing.     

“We’ve known for decades that lead is highly toxic for kids – harming their growth, development and learning,” said Danny Katz, CoPIRG executive director. “Yet we have slow-played undoing that damage for decades. Enough is enough. Right now, filtering the water at every tap is the best step to eliminate this health hazard, so our kids have safe drinking water wherever they go to learn and play each day.”     

HB22-1358 comes at a critical time when Colorado can take advantage of clean water funds from recently passed federal legislation like ARPA. Done right, Colorado can pull these funds down for schools and child care centers to protect the health of kids through proper water filtration.

Outside of the home, children spend most of their time at school, making it especially important to address environmental hazards in school buildings. Staff spend just as many hours there and are exposed to the same lead hazards. Young children are the most susceptible to the adverse effects of lead. Even at very low levels once considered safe, lead can cause serious, irreversible damage to developing brains and nervous systems of babies and young children. Lead can decrease a child’s cognitive capacity, cause behavior problems, and limit the ability to concentrate—all of which, in turn, affect the ability to learn in school.

HB22-1358 will be heard in the Colorado House Public & Behavioral Health and Human Services committee on Tuesday, April 12 at 1:30pm. It is the sixth bill that will be heard.

4/12/2022 UPDATE – The bill passed out of committee and heads to the House Appropriations committee.