Exclusive: researchers tested water across Watts and found lead, after people struggled to draw attention to 'overarching neglect'
A new report has found elevated lead levels in tap water across Watts, a south Los Angeles community that has faced decades of environmental racism, including in the drinking water of multiple public housing developments. Researchers working with the Better Watts Initiative, a community environmental group, tested tap water at sites across the neighbourhood, and found lead, a neurotoxic metal, at or above US government limits. The elevated concentrations were most often found in housing developments that have been plagued for decades by toxic contamination from lead and other pollution. Researchers relied on community leaders to recruit residents to participate in the study, collecting water samples from across homes and apartments in the area. Tap water samples from Nickerson Gardens – the largest public housing development in Los Angeles – had lead levels above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit of 15 parts per billion (ppb). But even exposure to lower levels of lead can cause serious health issues, and the EPA is in the process of reviewing its standards. Samples from other public housing projects, apartments and single family homes were above 5ppb, which is the Food and Drug Administration's standard for lead in bottled water. The American Academy of Pediatrics, meanwhile, says that children should not be exposed to concentrations above 1ppb. The findings confirm that the water in Watts is one of many sources of the neighbourhood's ongoing issues with lead contamination, which can cause serious health issues in both children and adults. "The reality of the situation is that no amount of lead is safe for the human body," said Danielle Hoague, a doctoral student at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and volunteer with the Better Watts Initiative, who led the research, which was shared exclusively with the Guardian. Lead is especially toxic to children, because it can hinder the development of their brain and nervous…