(KNSI) – The Minnesota Department of Health is helping parents keep tabs on the tap at neighborhood childcare facilities and schools.
So far, the new interactive map is loaded with 190 results. No lead was detected in 76% of the sinks and fountains tested to this point. About 19% registered levels below five parts per billion. That is considered safe but should be carefully monitored. Less than 5% of tests had results over five parts per billion, which requires immediate corrective actions.
There are no St. Cloud area locations where lead is above acceptable levels, but dozens of sites have yet to report. New Horizon Academy had two sinks with lead detected. The food prep sink was at 3.31 parts per billion, and a teacher’s sink in the infant section was at 1.15 parts per billion. Fourteen other sinks had no lead. Grin-N-Giggles Child Care Center in Albany had three sinks out of eight with acceptable levels detected.
Two central Minnesota schools were above the five ppb threshold, including Princeton High School, where seven readings raised red flags across three locations. The sink at the nurse’s station hit as high as 14.50 parts per billion, nearly three times the limit. Other problem spots were the drinking found in the girls’ PE locker room and the water cooler in the girls’ locker room.
Kennedy Elementary in Willmar had five readings above the limit and another 26 within acceptable levels. The worst was a faucet in Room 138 that registered 103 parts per billion, or nearly 21 times what is allowed. It has been replaced.
Lead exposure causes a significant number of problems for people of all ages. It slows down childhood development and leads to learning disabilities. Anemia, blindness, coma, hearing loss, memory and concentration problems, and seizures are some other symptoms.
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