New Jersey Battles High Lead Levels

The lead contamination problem in New Jersey may be just as serious as in Flint, MI.

“Eleven cities in New Jersey, and two counties, have a higher proportion of young children with dangerous lead levels than Flint, Mich., does,” NJ Advance Media reported, citing New Jersey and Michigan statistics detailed by a community advocacy group.

“New Jersey Department of Health statistics from 2014, the last year for which data is available, show that those 11 cities and two counties had a higher percentage of children with elevated lead levels than Flint did in 2015, as shown by Michigan state statistics,” the report said.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection recommends that residents of older neighborhoods do their own checks for water safety, according to NJ1015.com.

Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, weighed in: “We recommend along with the Department of Health that consumers get their water tested. You can get self-testing kits at most home improvement centers or you can go to the Department of Health website and find a list of contractors that do testing. It’s something, especially if you have younger children that you should do.”

Flint was thrust into the national news this year when the governor declared a state of emergency over a lead contamination crisis that is taking a toll on public health. Everything from lead to disinfectant byproducts have plagued the supply since the city switched from Detroit water and began drinking Flint River water two years ago.

Paint is a major source of the lead problem in New Jersey. Elyse Pivnick, director of environmental health for Isles, a community development group in Trenton, is working to bring attention to this issue.

"In light of the Flint debacle, we wanted people to understand that water is not the only thing that's poisoning children," she said, per the report. "Most people think the lead problem was solved when we took lead out of gasoline and new homes in the 1970s, but that's not true."

To read more about lead in drinking water and about the crisis in Flint, visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Contaminant Removal Solutions Center.