Lead Pipes, Cables Still Put Children and Others at Risk Across the US: Reports

Lead poisoning should sound like a 20th-century sort of problem. Scientists have warned for decades about the health effects of lead found in paint, pipes, gasoline, and other sources, and the United States has spent billions of dollars working to clean all that up — but it’s still very much out there.

Two new investigations, one from the Associated Press and one the Wall Street Journal, demonstrated the scope of the lead problem that remains. The AP found that many cities across the country have opted to knowingly leave old lead pipes in the ground, potentially delivering high levels of the metal via drinking water; and the Journal found that thousands of legacy cables laid as part of old phone networks are clad in lead and likely leaching into the ground and water where children live and play.

“While I can understand why some people might think of lead as a ‘solved’ problem, lead is clearly an ongoing, major issue for many communities around the US and the world,” said Ellen Wells, an associate professor of public health at Purdue University. 

“Even though we know lead is a major hazard, it still lurks within the infrastructure of our society,” she added.

No safe level

Lead can cause a variety of health and developmental problems in particular for young children. Even low levels can result in lowered IQ scores, hearing and growth problems, anemia, and more. In pregnant women, lead can affect the development of a variety of systems in a fetus, including the nervous system and the brain, and it can also increase the risk of miscarriage and premature birth. Scientists agree that there is no safe amount of lead, in particular for those higher risk groups.

“We are still learning more about the dangers of lead every day,” Wells told The Messenger. “For example, how lead may interact with other hazards or how lead may be related to neurodegenerative disease.”

Old and new sources of lead

Though significant progress has been made at removing lead from pipes, paint, and elsewhere, much work remains to be done. The AP found that many utilities in cities across the country have been leaving lead pipes in the ground, even when work on water mains has offered a relatively easy opportunity to remove them. This is going on in disparate communities ranging from Providence, Rhode Island, to Oklahoma City, Memphis, Tennessee, and elsewhere. 

Water pipes, though, are at least a familiar source of lead contamination. The other investigation, which showed how thousands of old cables wrapped in lead cladding remain buried or hanging low over places children and others pass daily, came as more of a surprise and thus might potentially be harder to address.

“I was not aware that telecommunication cables could be another source of lead, but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised given the number of other items lead has been used in over the years,” Wells said. Though it is impossible to pin specific individual health problems to a certain lead exposure, the Wall Street Journal demonstrated how some people may be serially exposed to the lead leaching and flaking off those cables.

Complicating that issue further is that at times, no one seems sure who should be responsible for removing them. The cables were laid as far back as the 1800s up through the middle of last century, and ownership has likely flipped through various telecommunications companies and others over the years. 

“At this time we don't know how much of a contribution to overall lead exposure the cables would make but given that cables are widespread and we know even low levels of lead can be hazardous, I think this discovery is concerning,” Wells told The Messenger.

Grand lead remediation plans

Though the investigations show the extent of the challenge remaining when it comes to lead, the Biden Administration has made it a priority to begin the hard work of reducing lead exposure. In late 2021 the administration released a Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan; the goal is to replace all lead service lines across the country within a decade.

A 2023 survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency put a number on that challenge: 9.2 million total pipes. The survey will help guide billions of dollars in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law toward the states and cities where it is needed most.

“Lead will not be an issue of the past until we can say that people are no longer being harmed by it,” Wells said. “The reason for this is the vast extent of how much lead was incorporated into literally the backbone infrastructure of our lives, and the cost it takes to remediate lead safely.  But it's worth the time and effort to work towards this goal.”