The abrupt resignation of the city’s health commissioner last month has many Milwaukee residents questioning what they can do to protect their families — and especially their young children — from lead poisoning.
How can lead in the service lines to my house contaminate drinking water?
Lead, which was used in water pipes in Milwaukee into the 1950s and in the solder connecting copper piping until the 1980s, can flake into drinking water.
How can lead paint poison children?
If I have these lead service lines, what can I do to protect my children from drinking contaminated water?
Also, flush drinking water plumbing before using water for consumption or cooking.
Otherwise health experts recommend using bottled water instead of tap water.
A.There is no safe level of lead in the human body, according to the city Health Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
However, it is not possible to get drinking water to an undetectable level of lead (i.e.1 part per billion or lower) without using lead filters or bottled water, according to Edwards, the national expert from Virginia Tech.
For more information on lead poisoning consult: The Wisconsin Department of Health Services.