Research conducted by LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health finds that the current recommendations for running water to flush out lead are not consistently effective and may not be the best way to protect children from lead in drinking water. The findings are published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health available online here.
“While flushing taps according to prevailing guidelines (for 30 seconds to 2 minutes) may reduce water lead levels for some homes, over half the tested homes had peak water lead levels after that time, so these recommendations may inadvertently increase exposures,” notes study leader Adrienne Katner, DEnv, Assistant Research Professor of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health. “More effective interventions like certified water filters should be considered instead, particularly when replacing water service lines and plumbing is not economically possible.”The research was supported in part by the Louisiana Board of Regents’ New Research Pilot Funding Program, the National Science Foundation, LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health and the National Institutes of Health.