The Department of Education claims there has never been a case of a lead poisoning from city school water — but school-age kids are rarely tested, critics charge.
The DOE has stressed the lack of a single documented case of lead poisoning tied to contaminated school water after testing showed elevated levels across the city.
But two experts said that state regulations require lead testing only for 1- and 2-year-olds, and that school-age children go largely unchecked.
“To hang your hat on that false logical narrative not only creates a false sense of security — it’s beyond irresponsible,” said Marc Edwards, a civil engineering professor at Virginia Tech.
Known for helping uncover the lead-contamination crisis in Flint, Mich., Edwards said it’s impossible for officials to gauge the situation without actually testing exposed kids.
“These are the same outrageously unscientific arguments they’re using in other cities and it has to stop,” Edwards said.
Dr. Morri Markowitz, director of the Lead Poisoning Treatment and Prevention Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, echoed Edwards concerns, arguing that the DOE was making proclamations without enough data.
“Without some basic testing of kids in these classrooms, it’s impossible to know either way,” he said.
Both experts said lead testing for kids is focused on paint-chip ingestion, not contaminated water.
The Post reported this week that about one in 20 elementary-school taps registered lead levels high enough to require immediate remediation.
One drinking fountain at PS 296 George Brower in Crown Heights had a lead reading of 15,000 parts per billion — 1,000 times the limit allowed by federal safety regulations.
The DOE has assured parents that every water source that exceeds the limit of 15 parts per billion is immediately removed from service, remediated and returned only after test results some in under the safety threshold.
City health officials said substantiated lead-poisoning cases — which have plummeted in recent years — are probed for any link to school contamination.
In a Monday-night post on Medium.com, DOE Deputy Chancellor Elizabeth Rose cautioned against “unnecessary alarm” and “misinterpreting data.”
“We’ve acted thoroughly and aggressively; you can rest assured that drinking water in our schools is safe,” she wrote.