Less lead in pipes

1992/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The World Health Organization has taken close action on the amount of lead that drinking water can contain. This measure has been taken due to lead venopuntion in children in the UK. The new standards implemented have now reduced the previous limit to five. Consequently, the British government will have to spend billions to renovate the old pipes.

At this time, the lead limit in the UK is 50 micrograms per liter, so it should be reduced to 10 micrograms per liter. According to Derek Miller, head of the Water Research Center in Oxfordshire County, “new limits depend on the effects of lead on young people’s intellectual development.”

Tap water is the main pathway of lead contamination today and is due to the amount of lead present in pipes.

The construction cost of the new pipe has also been analyzed. According to a study conducted ten years ago, 100,000 pesetas per dwelling. a total of 300,000 million pesetas. Given the inflation recorded in the last ten years, this figure would double.

Although the cost is enormous, it is something that health deserves. And elsewhere in Europe, for example, in what situation are we?