Lead is a naturally occurring metal that is harmful if inhaled or swallowed. It can be found in air, soil, dust, food, and water. The most common source of exposure is from lead-based paint routinely used in homes and buildings built before 1978, when lead-based paint was banned. The best way to ensure you are not as risk is to have your home tested for lead paint.

Although water is not the main source of exposure, lead can be found in some water service lines and some household plumbing. The EPA estimates that 10 to 20% of human exposure to lead may come from lead in drinking water. Infants who consume mostly mixed formula can receive 40 to 60% of their exposure to lead from drinking water.

Lead is a toxic metal that can negatively affect the health of you and your family. Here are a few reasons why you should take care to reduce your exposure to lead:

• If ingested, lead can sit in your body's organs for months.
• Your body cannot tell the difference between lead and calcium, so if lead is not excreted, your body stores both substances in your bones. Lead can remain in your body throughout your lifetime.
• Lead is especially harmful to infants and children under age six.  It can damage young, developing nervous systems, which can reduce a child's IQ, slow development and growth, cause learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders, and other unhealthy physical effects.
• Pregnant women must be careful to not ingest lead since it will harm a developing fetus.
• In adults, lead can cause muscular, mental and mood disorders, among other harmful conditions.
• Lead toxicity can be treated, but its detrimental effects cannot be cured, and the damage cannot be reversed.

Remember: There is no “safe” level of lead!

Lead may be found in the following places in or outside of your home:

• Lead-based paint that was applied before lead paint was banned in 1978.
• Air from industrial emissions.
• Soil contaminated by dust from past vehicle emissions and/or exterior lead paint.
• Some imported foods, medicines, dishes, toys, and plastics.
• Water from corroded plumbing fixtures and products that contain lead.

Some older homes are equipped with service lines and/or plumbing systems made of galvanized iron piping:

• Galvanized iron pipes are made of steel and coated with zinc as a layer of protection for the pipe.
• Over time, the zinc can erode, causing the interior of the pipe to corrode and create lots of nooks and crannies that can collect lead released from a lead service line.

If your home has galvanized iron piping and was fed by a lead service line at any time (including currently), then you are at risk of lead being released into your water. We encourage you to have your water tested and your galvanized line replaced.

We recommend you use an NSF-certified water filter for all drinking and cooking until your water test results confirm your water is safe.

Aquarion regularly tests the water at a selected number of high-risk homes. If results exceed 15 parts per billion in more than 10% of “first-draw samples”* taken from household taps, we send notices to our customers in the affected systems and provide instructions on what to do to limit lead exposure as required by the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

While it is a good screening technique, every home is different, and lead levels can vary from home to home depending on differences, like pipes, solder, and fixtures used. Since you cannot see, taste, or smell lead dissolved in water, testing is the best way of determining the lead level in your home. You can have your drinking water tested for lead with the aid of certified testing laboratories. Be sure to contact labs directly for information on costs and the requirements for sampling bottles.

For a list of testing laboratories, select your state:

• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire

*A “first-draw sample” is one taken from tap water that has stood motionless in the plumbing pipes for at least six hours.