Queens Parks' Drinking Fountains Have High Lead Levels: Report

QUEENS, NY — Drinking fountains in Queens parks have alarmingly high levels of lead, new city test results show.

A Cunningham Park drinking fountain has lead levels nearly 23 times what the federal government considers safe.

And drinking fountains in Forest Park, Kissena Park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Crocheron Park and the College Point Fields also topped a list of public drinking fountains with unsafe lead levels, according to a Gothamist report.

Lead levels in those fountains all exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency-recommended limit of 15 parts per billion. Four of the Queens drinking fountains tested so far had lead levels above 100 parts per billion, Gothamist found.

"There's no doubt that that's too much lead to be drinking from a fountain," Marc Edwards, a civil engineer at Virginia Tech, told Gothamist. Edwards helped uncover the harmful lead levels in Flint, Michigan.

He added: "You should be worried about it. You should remediate that tap. That shows there's a hazard."

The parks department started testing Queens' public drinking fountains on May 6 as part of a plan to test all the city's drinking fountains by mid-June. The tests are part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s LeadFreeNYC campaign to eliminate childhood lead exposure, but the park department says drinking water from the fountains isn't a known source of lead exposure.

Research shows that lead exposure can cause reduced IQ, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in kids. Lead exposure may also put adults at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Read the full story in Gothamist.