Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told Chapelboro on September 29 that while the addressing of these infrastructure and water quality issues is going to be a long and “evolving process,” he assured the campus community that “we’ve got the best people working on it.” “There’s a lot of work that’s been done over the past few weeks,” said Guskiewicz. Faculty and staff who are seeking testing should contact the University Employee Occupational Health Clinic, while students and post-doctoral fellows should call Campus Health. After initially prioritizing those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, the university now has health tests for lead available to all faculty, staff and students who have used the affected buildings. UNC says that anyone in the “high risk” category, as well as people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or work in the affected buildings, may want to consider being tested for the lead levels in their blood. The Centers for Disease Control also have a group of people considered “high risk” for falling ill due to lead exposure. While it takes a significant amount of lead to be ingested to cause health problems, the Environmental Protection Agency states there is no safe exposure to the toxic metal in water and exposure can cause health problems. Whenever water sits in a fixture or pipe for an extended period of time, he said there is a chance the chemical will leech from the item into the water. “We certainly understand that seeing these repeated results can be concerning for the community,” said Hodge, “so we want to assure everybody that the water we are providing is meeting all state and federal regulations.” Hodge said lead often enters the water not from its distribution source, but from plumbing materials in fixtures or infrastructure, like pipes, lead solder and lead brass fittings. ![]() While OWASA is supporting the university in their sampling efforts, he said sampling of water leaving the Jones Ferry Road treatment plant and in homes around the service area is coming back clear of lead. Blake Hodge, the communications specialist the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA), said the issue is localized to the various fixtures on campus and the broader region’s water quality is not at risk. If plumbing materials are corroded, lead can enter the water near the exit from the fixture, although this does not impact other pipes in a building. ![]() ![]() Lead in drinking water is typically attributed to three sources: lead pipes, lead solder and lead brass fittings. Since then, several other fountains and sinks at the university have similarly returned test with lead detection. Three water fountains in the historic Wilson Library initially returned tests with noticeable levels of the chemical in late August, prompting UNC to shut down the fixtures and begin testing similar ones across campus. ![]() The original version was published on Monday, October 10.Īfter initial testing at the start of the fall semester, the presence of lead in some water fixtures at UNC has led the university to conduct widespread assessment of its water quality. Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the latest testing recommendations and availability for UNC campus community members.
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