lead | Rhode Island Public Radio

Environmental Journalist On RI's Leaded Drinking Water Problem

By Avory Brookins • Sep 14, 2017

Providence Water, which supplies about 60 percent of Rhode Island's drinking water, has made efforts to raise awareness about lead in the water supply.

Providence Water Offers Incentive To Homeowners To Replace Private Lead Pipes

By Avory Brookins • Aug 27, 2017

A major Rhode Island water supplier is offering three-year, zero percent interest loans to homeowners who need to replace private lead service lines that run underground from the curb of their property to the water meter.

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Elevated Blood Lead Levels Affect 3rd Grade Reading Scores

By Kristin Gourlay • Oct 5, 2016

Researchers from Brown University have found that even low levels of lead in children’s blood can lower future test scores. It’s one of the first studies to isolate lead as a cause, and not just a factor, in student achievement.

HUD To Adopt CDC Blood Lead Level Guidelines; Could Intervene To Clean Up Contamination Earlier

By Kristin Gourlay • Aug 31, 2016

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency is proposing lowering its threshold for childhood lead poisoning to match recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Housing And Urban Development Secretary To Stop In RI

By John Bender • Aug 31, 2016

The head of the U.S. department of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, makes a stop in the Ocean State today. Castro is working to raise awareness of efforts to prevent lead poisoning.

Castro will join Senator Jack Reed on a tour of several homes in Providence, where federal funds have been used to clean up lead paint. The pair will also meet with housing officials and environmental advocates to discuss efforts to reduce lead exposure, especially among children.

Drinking Water Sampling In Rhode Island Post-Flint

By Ambar Espinoza • Aug 9, 2016

Christopher Irwin / Creative Commons License via Flickr

For a year and a half, tens of thousands of people in Flint, Michigan were exposed to drinking water with dangerously high levels of lead. In the wake of the crisis, water sampling methods have come under scrutiny. Rhode Island Public Radio environmental reporter Ambar Espinoza sat down with the chief of the center for drinking water quality at the Rhode Island Department of Health to learn how Rhode Island has changed its testing protocols post-Flint.

$3.4M To Help Reduce Lead Paint Hazards Headed For RI

By Kristin Gourlay • Jun 14, 2016

Rhode Island will receive $3.4 million dollars to reduce lead hazards in homes. It's the seventh round of funding in more than a decade aimed at hundreds of homes with lead contamination.

Rhode Island Housing will distribute the funds to organizations that help identify homes at the highest risk for lead. These apartments or houses built were before 1978, when a ban on lead paint went into effect. And Rhode Island has a high percentage of older apartment buildings compared to the rest of the nation.

Reed On Preventing Lead Poisoning, Improving Infrastructure

By Kristin Gourlay • May 23, 2016

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) met with leaders working to prevent lead poisoning today in Providence. Reed is pushing legislation to better regulate toxic chemicals like lead.

The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 hasn’t been updated in 40 years. It’s the law that regulates harmful chemicals, including lead. And Reed says an update is in the works. But congressional negotiations over the bill remain contentious.

Child Lead Rates On The Decline Throughout Rhode Island

By Elisabeth Harrison • Apr 11, 2016

Just two decades ago, the vast majority of Rhode Island children had elevated levels of lead in their blood when they were tested at the start of Kindergarten. Today, the percentage has dropped into the single digits, according to Rhode Island Kids Count Executive Director Elizabeth Burke Bryant, whose organization started tracking blood lead statistics in the mid-1990s.

Water Authority Reports Elevated Levels Of Lead

By John Bender • Aug 12, 2015

A new report from Providence Water finds some homes served by the water authority may be exposed to elevated levels of lead.

The utility provides water to customers in Providence, North Providence, Johnston, and Cranston. Providence Water says the culprit is old lead pipes. About one in five Providence Water customers have lead pipes.

In a statement Providence Water writes:

Getting The Lead Out: The Law Works, Except When It Doesn't

By Kristin Gourlay • Jul 7, 2014

A law aimed at protecting children from unsafe levels of lead in their homes is working, according to a new study. But only when landlords comply with it.