The Arizona Department of Health Services is offering schools the opportunity to test for lead in drinking water.
The lead testing program started in 2021 for charter schools, but Ginny De La Cruz with the department said any public school or state-regulated child care facility can now participate.
“We know those older schools tend to have the leaded pipes, but again, even if it’s a newer school, we still recommend that they enroll in the program because we have noticed that there are sometimes fixtures that have those lead components,” De La Cruz said.
Since 2021, the department has tested about 220 schools and identified 9 with some lead in the water. Even very low levels of lead exposure can have physical or behavioral health impacts on children.
