Lead in Drinking Water

Lead exposure is a public health problem affecting people across our nation. Exposure to unsafe levels of lead can cause serious health effects, especially among children.

Federal Nutrition Programs

Federal nutrition programs can be leveraged in the event of a lead crisis by promoting balanced diets featuring key nutrients.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide information on food sources of select nutrients, which can be found here.

The WIC program provides resources to help protect participants from lead, including:

• WIC Works: Protect Against Lead Exposure with WIC Foods. WIC provides information on how lead absorption may be limited through a healthy and balanced diet, including enough vitamin C, calcium and iron.
• Well Fed Means Less Lead. This resource, available in English, Spanish and Arabic, provides important information to protect your family from lead.
• Protect Against Lead Exposure with WIC Foods - Sample Meals. WIC participants can get important nutrients, including iron, calcium and vitamin, through certain foods, many of which are in the WIC food packages. This page provides recipes that feature foods high in these nutrients, which may help limit lead absorption.

FNS policy memos have established ways to ensure the availability of safe water through Child Nutrition Programs. This includes:

• Resources for Making Potable Water Available in Schools and Child Care Facilities
• Water Availability in the Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Questions and Answers related to Food Service Management Company Contracts and Allowable Costs during the COVID-19 Pandemic

SNAP-Ed gives caregivers information about how to use nutrition to decrease lead absorption. Learn more here.

Federal Resources

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) remain experts on the topic and important sources of up-to-date information.

The EPA has information to learn about lead, including:

• Basic information about lead
• Lead in drinking water
• Important steps you can take to reduce lead in drinking water
• Protect your family from sources of lead
• Steps to reduce lead exposures in the home
• En español
• Frequently asked questions about lead
• Educational documents and outreach materials

The CDC has a wealth of information on the topic, such as:

• Lead poisoning prevention
• Populations at higher risk
• State and local programs
• Lead FAQs

Their site also includes important news alerts related to lead and new publications of importance to the topic.

Looking for more specific information for your location? The CDC provides a list of links to health departments in to all 50 states, 8 US territories and freely associated states and the District of Columbia.