440 Cleveland Day Cares Linked To Lead: State Tries To Fix Issue

CLEVELAND — More than 440 day cares in Cleveland get water from lead service lines, Ohio officials announced Friday.

Gov. Mike DeWine's H2Ohio project is awarding a $500,000 grant to the city of Cleveland to fund the removal and replacement of those city-owned lead service lines. Lead can enter drinking water when materials corrode in water lines and household plumbing.

Even small amounts of lead can lead to learning and development issues in children, the Ohio Department of Health said. Lead can replace iron and calcium in children and can impact many parts of the body, particularly the nervous system.

"We must be aggressive about protecting Ohio's children from toxic lead in drinking water, and the best way to do that is to remove the pipes," DeWine said.

Children 6 and younger are most vulnerable to complications from lead exposure, the Ohio Department of Health said. Infants who drink formula prepared with lead-contaminated water are most at risk because of how rapidly their brains are developing and their need for large volumes of formula, the state health department said.

"Even at low levels, lead can lower IQ, cause attention disorders, make it difficult for a child to pay attention in school, delay growth, impair hearing, and more," the Ohio Department of Health noted.

“Addressing lead service lines is a key focus under the H2Ohio initiative,” said Ohio EPA Director Laurie A. Stevenson. “Every Ohioan deserves to be protected from environmental and health hazards in drinking water, especially our most vulnerable.”