Advocates in the Colorado health, education, and environmental communities strongly support House Bill 17-1306 to prevent and eliminate lead exposure in young children. This bill would provide grant funding for schools who wish to test their water for lead. Lead is particularly dangerous for young children because they absorb more of the toxic metal than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging consequences of lead exposure. Longer-term health impacts of lead exposure in children include learning and behavior issues, hearing and speech problems and slowed growth and development. Ensuring safe drinking water in our schools is a wonderful example of public policy that all perspectives on the political spectrum can support.

It is important to know that this legislation gives schools the opportunity, without creating unfunded mandates, to apply for grants to test for lead in their water. Funding already exists at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to support these grants, and would prioritize those at the highest risk for lead, such as our oldest public elementary schools with aging pipes and infrastructure.

The crisis in Flint, Michigan, last year brought the nation’s attention to this environmental hazard, though lead toxicity has unfortunately always been a public health challenge. Thankfully, we have not yet seen an emergency in Colorado like the one experienced by the residents in Michigan, but the risk is there. Of the 178 school districts in Colorado, seven large school districts have recently tested their water, with over 100 schools detecting lead in their water or fixtures. In addition to devastating health impacts, national economic studies show that it costs $5.9 million annually in medical care to address lead poisoning and there is an additional $50.9 billion in lost economic productivity resulting from reduced cognitive potential from childhood lead exposure. The consequences of doing nothing has a lasting and costly impact on Colorado’s children.

The strong bipartisan support and passage of HB 1306 in the House should be applauded. Many simple things can be done to mitigate and remediate lead exposure, such as shutting off problematic fixtures like drinking fountains and faucets and offering students bottled water. Funding for additional remediation and infrastructure improvement is also possible through existing grant opportunities.

It is exciting to see our state proactively addressing this troubling issue facing Colorado children. I encourage our legislators and their constituents to continue as champions for children’s health by supporting HB 1306.