Policy hearing focuses on elevated lead levels in PA school buildings
7,300+ PA children under age 6 tested positive for elevated lead levels in 2022
Rep. Roni Green February 20, 2025 | 1:20 PM
HARRISBURG, Feb. 20 – Testifiers at a House Majority Policy Committee hearing on Thursday described the urgent need to address elevated levels of lead found in the drinking water of school buildings in Pennsylvania.
The hearing, hosted by Rep. Tarik Khan (D-Philadelphia), featured testimony from medical professionals and environmental experts who detailed the prevalence of lead exposure in Pennsylvania children and how badly it can impact their growth and development.
“We know that lead is a poison and there is no safe level of lead poisoning. Pennsylvania is sending many of our kids into school buildings where we know they will be exposed to lead through aging water fountains. I was one of those kids,” said Khan. “The testimony we heard today shows the lasting impacts of even minor lead exposure can have on children. This is a critical issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, and House Democrats are leading the charge.”
Researchers from the Pennsylvania Lead-Free Project found that in 2022, more than 7,300 Pennsylvania children under age 6 tested positive for elevated blood lead levels. Studies from that same period show Philadelphia had the third highest percent of children with elevated blood lead levels when compared with 33 of the largest U.S. cities. Lead exposure in children can lead to reduced IQ scores, behavioral problems, and impaired brain development, among other issues.
Testifiers say a large part of the problem is the aging infrastructure of our school buildings. The average age of a Pennsylvania school building is 70 years. Lead was commonly used in plumbing materials prior to 1986, meaning every school building constructed in that time has multiple potential sources of lead contamination.
One potential solution to addressing this issue is for school districts to install lead-filtering hydration stations in buildings, rather than the current “test-and-fix” method testifiers say can fail to detect lead and only provides a snapshot of the conditions at the time of testing.
Reps. Khan and Roni Green (D-Philadelphia) have introduced legislation that would require school districts to replace old drinking fountains with lead-filtering water stations, while providing the funding to do so. Testifiers overwhelmingly agreed that passing this bill would make a lasting positive impact on our students.
“My children and I all attended school in Philadelphia, so I unfortunately know all too well about the dangers of lead exposure. That’s one of the reasons why I introduced this bill with Rep. Khan.” said Green. “We need to do better for our children. It’s past time that we provide clean, safe water for all students across the commonwealth.”
Thursday’s hearing featured testimony from George Dalembert, MD, MSHP, a Pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Carla Campbell, MD, MS, FAAP, Affiliate Faculty at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health; Jerry Roseman, Managing Director of Healthy School Buildings, and David Masur, Director of PennEnvironment.
Testimony from Thursday’s hearing can be found here, while full video of the hearing is available here. More information about this and other House Democratic Policy Committee hearings can be found at pahouse.com/policy.