Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Apr 28;21(5):561. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21050561.
Lead is an established neurotoxicant, and it has known associations with adverse neurodevelopmental and reproductive outcomes. Exposure to lead at any level is unsafe, and the United States (US) has enacted various federal and state legislations to regulate lead levels in drinking water in K-12 schools and childcare facilities; however, no regulations exist for higher education settings. Upon the discovery of lead in drinking water fixtures in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) campus, a cross-campus water testing network and sampling plan was developed and deployed. The campaign was based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 3Ts (Training, Testing, and Taking Action) guidance. The seven-month campaign involved 5954 tests on 3825 drinking water fixtures across 265 buildings. A total of 502 (8.43%) tests showed lead above the limit of detection (1 part per billion, ppb), which represented 422 (11.03%) fixtures. Fewer than 1.5% of the tests were above the EPA action level for public water systems (15 ppb). In conclusion, systematic testing of all the fixtures across campus was required to identify localized contamination, and each entity in the cross-campus network undertook necessary roles to generate a successful testing campaign. UNC-CH established preventative measures to test drinking water fixtures every three years, which provide a framework for other higher education institutions in responding to lead contamination.
铅是一种已被确认的神经毒素，已知与不良神经发育和生殖结果有关。任何水平的铅暴露都是不安全的，美国已颁布了各种联邦和州立法，以规范 K-12 学校和儿童保育设施饮用水中的铅含量；然而，高等教育机构没有相关规定。北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校（UNC-CH）校园内发现饮用水装置含铅后，开发并部署了一个跨校园水质测试网络和采样计划。该活动基于美国环境保护署（EPA）的 3Ts（培训、测试和采取行动）指南。为期七个月的活动共对 265 栋建筑中的 3825 个饮用水装置进行了 5954 次测试。共有 502 次（8.43%）测试显示铅含量超过检测限（十亿分之 1 ，ppb），即 422 次（11.03%）装置。低于 EPA 针对公共供水系统的行动水平（15ppb）的测试不到 1.5%。总之，需要对校园内所有装置进行系统测试，以确定局部污染，跨校园网络中的每个实体都承担了必要的角色，以成功开展测试活动。UNC-CH 建立了每三年测试饮用水装置的预防措施，为其他高等教育机构应对铅污染提供了框架。
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