Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Oakland, California.
Prev Chronic Dis. 2020 Dec 31;17:E166. doi: 10.5888/pcd17.200366.
Recent legislation requires public and charter schools in California to test drinking water for lead. Our objective was to describe 1) results from this testing program in the context of other available water safety data and 2) factors related to schools and water utilities associated with access to safe drinking water in schools.
Our study focused on a random sample of 240 California public and charter schools. We used multivariable logistic regression, accounting for clustering of tested water sources in schools, to examine school-level factors associated with failure to meet lead-testing deadlines and any history of water utility noncompliance.
Of the 240 schools, the majority (n = 174) tested drinking water for lead. Of the schools tested, 3% (n = 6) had at least 1 sample that exceeded 15 parts per billion (ppb) (California action level) and 16% (n = 28) exceeded 5 ppb (bottled water standard). Suburban schools had lower odds of being served by noncompliant water systems (OR = 0.17; CI, 0.05-0.64; P = .009) than city schools. Compared with city schools, rural schools had the highest odds of not participating in the water testing program for lead (OR = 3.43; CI, 1.46-8.05; P = .005). Hallways and common spaces and food services areas were the most frequent school locations tested; one-third of all locations sampled could not be identified.
In our study, geography influenced access to safe drinking water in schools, including both water utility safety standards and school lead-testing practices. Considerations for improving the implementation of state lead-testing programs include establishing priority locations for sampling, precisely labeling samples, and developing well-defined testing and reporting protocols.
最近的法规要求加利福尼亚州的公立和特许学校测试饮用水中的铅含量。我们的目标是描述 1）在其他可用的水安全数据背景下，该测试计划的结果，以及 2）与学校和供水公司相关的因素，这些因素与学校获得安全饮用水有关。
我们的研究集中在加利福尼亚州 240 所公立和特许学校的随机样本上。我们使用多变量逻辑回归，考虑到学校中测试水源的聚类，检查与未能达到铅测试截止日期和任何供水公司不合规历史相关的学校层面因素。
在 240 所学校中，大多数（n = 174）测试了饮用水中的铅含量。在所测试的学校中，有 3%（n = 6）的学校至少有 1 个样本超过 15 微克/分升（ppb）（加利福尼亚州行动水平），16%（n = 28）的学校超过 5 ppb（瓶装水标准）。与城市学校相比，郊区学校由不合规供水系统提供服务的可能性较低（OR = 0.17；CI，0.05-0.64；P =.009）。与城市学校相比，农村学校参加铅水测试计划的可能性最低（OR = 3.43；CI，1.46-8.05；P =.005）。走廊、公共空间和餐饮区是最常测试的学校地点；三分之一的采样地点无法识别。
在我们的研究中，地理位置影响了学校获得安全饮用水的机会，包括供水安全标准和学校铅测试实践。考虑改善州级铅测试计划的实施，包括为采样确定优先地点、准确标记样本以及制定明确的测试和报告协议。
