VANCOUVER—Unsafe levels of lead were found in drinking water in 25 per cent of the B.C. schools that reported test results this year, including eight schools that found levels more than 100 times higher than the allowable limit.

Five hundred schools and facilities this year reported the results of lead tests, which were conducted between 2016 and 2018, to the Ministry of Education. More than 120 of those schools had a sample that failed to meet the Canadian standard for lead in drinking water of 0.01 mg/L.

Concerns about lead in drinking water were heightened in North America following the crisis that hit in Flint, Mich., in 2014. Still, B.C. only began requiring schools to test for lead in their drinking water in the fall of 2016.

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The provincial government began requiring schools built before 1990 and those with a history of high lead levels to test their water in September 2016, following a Vancouver Sun investigation into the issue. Schools are required to conduct lead testing every three years. More than two-thirds of B.C. schools have conducted at least one round of lead tests so far. Schools are required to take steps to address high lead levels when they’re detected.

“This is not a small problem,” said Glen Hansman, the president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.

“Kids need to have access to safe drinking water,” he said, and they shouldn’t be expected to bring a water bottle from home.

Bodies such as the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics say there is no safe level of lead exposure. Even at low levels, lead can affect children’s brain development, cause lower IQs and behavioural issues such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Bruce Lanphear, a Simon Fraser University health sciences expert who studies the effects of toxins such as lead on people, said pregnant women exposed to the heavy metal are more likely to give birth early. It can also decrease the birth weight of their babies. In adults, lead is also a risk factor for heart disease and chronic kidney issues, he said.

The Canadian standard, medical professionals say, is already too lax to prevent health effects. In light of health concerns, a new, more stringent standard allowing half of the current amount of lead has been recommended by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water. At that proposed standard, more than 40 per cent of the schools would have failed at least one lead test, according to the latest data obtained by the Star through a freedom of information request.

B.C. lags behind Ontario, which has mandated testing at both schools and daycares since 2007 and recently beefed up its requirements. In Alberta, however, schools are not required to test their water for lead.

“On the one hand, I’m actually really pleased that we now have testing results,” Education Minister Rob Fleming said of the results reported to his ministry this year. “It was just two or three years ago, there was almost no testing being done annually,” he said, before outlining the province’s plan to deal with the danger to kids’ health.

Based on the test results, the province is giving grants to replace lead pipes contaminating the water supply and supporting school districts to install water filtration devices on every source of drinking water in their schools, he said. For instance, in December the province allocated $750,000 for six schools to fix lead levels. This followed investments of $6.5 million province-wide to combat the issue.

“Kids should be able to get a drink of clean, healthy water from water fountains at school,” Fleming said in a statement at the time.

Though many schools tested more than one water source, provincial policy doesn’t dictate how many taps or fountains schools must test every three years. Instead, school districts are expected to work with their local health authorities to figure out how many taps to test and the testing procedure they should use.

The Fraser Health Authority recommends that school districts test all taps that are used for drinking at all schools, spokesperson Jacqueline Blackwell said in an email. The testing procedure usually involves taking a sample of water after it has been stagnant overnight, followed by a second sample after the water has run for about two minutes, she said.

Matt Kieltyka of Vancouver Coastal Health said while there is no specific requirement for the number of taps tested, a larger sample results in a more accurate assessment.

To test, it’s best if the water hasn’t been used in six hours, so an early morning sample is ideal, he said.

VCH asks schools to get their samples from a source of taps representing each “branch” or section of the building’s distribution system, then send them to a lab for testing.

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Ontario, meanwhile, has one set of policies that applies across the province. Primary schools and daycares have been given until 2020 to ensure every faucet used for drinking or cooking has been tested for lead at least once. Other schools have until 2022 to do the same. The province also has detailed instructions for sampling.

How these tests are conducted matters, Lanphear said, who noted schools will be more or less likely to find lead depending how the tests are conducted.

If they want to know whether water from a tap or fountain is really safe to drink, schools should be taking three samples of warm water that’s running fast. The first sample should capture the initial litre of water to flow from a tap after it’s been stagnant for hours. The second sample should be taken after the tap has been running for about a minute. The third sample should be taken after it’s been running for two minutes.

Testing only one tap at a school is “not really sufficient,” he said, adding that unless B.C. has proof there’s no risk of lead contamination in drinking water at schools built after 1990, the province should require those schools to test as well.

Built after 1990, some schools that were not required to test for lead in drinking water but did anyways, failed to meet the standard for the heavy metal, the data obtained by the Star shows.

How schools respond to high lead results varies. Some schools shut down the water fountain or tap, investigate the source of the lead and replace the offending pipe or fixture. Others install filters.

But many schools in both B.C. and Ontario flush their taps.

Both VCH and the Fraser Health Authority said flushing the overnight lead out of the system by running taps for five minutes or until the water runs cold each morning is one way to make the water safer.

But the lead author of a new study who investigated the effectiveness of flushing said it’s a bad solution.

Evelyne Dore, a PhD student at Polytechnique Montreal, said her study shows lead levels can build back up within 30 minutes of a flush.

If schools are using flushing to address lead, students should be taught to flush the tap themselves as a safeguard, she said.

The best solution is to identify the source of lead and remove it, she said, adding it wastes less water than flushing daily or more frequently. Alternatively, filters certified for the removal of lead are a good option, she said.

Minister Fleming acknowledged flushing isn’t a long-term solution.

“We are beginning to fund more and more plumbing upgrades,” he said. “What we want to do right now is get rid of the highest risk sources of lead.”

Until those sources of lead can be replaced in all schools, Hansman said school districts should ensure another source of safe water in the schools.

Correction - May 9, 2018: The map accompanying this article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly indicated that Seaview Elementary in Port Moody reported one of the highest lead sample results. In fact, it was Seaview Elementary in Lantzville, B.C. that reported one of the highest lead sample results.

With files from Alex McKeen

Ainslie Cruickshank is a Vancouver-based reporter covering the environment. Reach her at ainslie.cruickshank@metronews.ca Jeremy Nuttall is the lead investigative reporter for StarMetro Vancouver. Reach him at jeremy.nuttall@metronews.ca

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