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Chris Whiteside CCDC North Wales NPHS conference 10 th October 2007

Virgin Solders: Community exposure to lead in drinking water. Chris Whiteside CCDC North Wales NPHS conference 10 th October 2007 Presented at HPA conference Warwick 17 th September 2007. Complaint of ‘dirty water’ by a resident on a new housing estate in Anglesey in March 2007

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Chris Whiteside CCDC North Wales NPHS conference 10 th October 2007

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  1. Virgin Solders: Community exposure to lead in drinking water Chris Whiteside CCDC North Wales NPHS conference 10th October 2007 Presented at HPA conference Warwick 17th September 2007

  2. Complaint of ‘dirty water’ by a resident on a new housing estate in Anglesey in March 2007 Analysis (Welsh Water) showed the kitchen tap water contained 205ug/l lead North Wales HPT informed Regulatory limit for lead in mains drinking water is 25ug/l (reducing to 10ug/l in 2013) Overnight stagnation sample from kitchen tap contained 590ug/l lead Lead in Drinking Water

  3. Further sampling • Water sampling at 10 other houses on the estate showed similar lead levels • Highest contained 1570ug/l lead • Mains water from hydrant: lead not detectable • Kitchen pipe solder contained 61% lead

  4. Actions by Welsh Water • Residents informed of sample results • Advised to flush through pipes for 5 minutes before using the water • Bottled water supplied to residents (NPHS advice) • Further testing of houses on the developer’s other estates showed similar results • Solder from the 15 properties sampled contained 48-78% lead

  5. Legislation and responsibility • Water Supply Byelaws 1989 banned the use of lead in drinking water fittings • Responsibility lies with: • Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) • Water Company • Local Authority • Developer and the subcontractors (plumber) • House owner

  6. Summary of houses affected • A 2nd housing developer in Bangor had built 5 houses which showed similar results for lead in the water and solder • 26 affected properties built by the 1st developer = Total 31 houses on 6 estates

  7. NPHS actions • Multi-agency team co-ordinated: NPHS, HPA, NPIS, Welsh Water, LAs and LHBs • NPHS wrote to all 31 addresses identified • Fact sheet on lead • Advice to residents • Questionnaire about residents of house • GPs in the area also informed

  8. Residents • 26 households replied to our letter • 57 individuals living in these 26 houses • 6 children under 6 years • 28 individuals had blood lead concentrations measured, highest 0.79 umol/l • 3 children had blood lead concentrations measured: 0.16 - 0.19 umol/l • WHO / CDC Atlanta ‘level of concern’ is 0.5 umol/l

  9. What happened next? • Welsh Water prosecuted developer 1 • Developer 2 is now bankrupt • Sampling of tap water at developments built by other builders in the area • Possibility of introduction of ‘new connection sampling’ • Letter from CMO (Wales) and CEHA to Local Authorities Sept 2007

  10. Summary • Lead solder still being used illegally in drinking water fittings • No adverse health effects were identified among residents • However there is still cause for concern particularly around subtle effects on childrens’ intellectual development • There are still some outstanding issues to be addressed re regulation of plumbers

  11. Acknowledgments • HPA (Cardiff): Jeff Russell, David Russell, Peter Davies • NPIS (Cardiff): John Thompson • Dwr Cymru Welsh Water: Wendy Hamer-Cooke, Jon Cannon • NPHS: Chris Lines, Mike Simmons, Carol Roberts, Huw Brunt, Marion Lyons, Rob Atenstaedt, Teresa Owen, Andrew Jones • Welsh Assembly Gov’t: Ronnie Alexander, Tony Jewell

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