Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

Protecting children from lead in water

The Environmental Law and Policy Clinic played a leading role in the development of a rule recently adopted by the North Carolina Commission for Public Health that will help protect young children from hazardous lead exposure. The rule, which took effect on Oct. 1, requires state-licensed child care centers to test for lead in water used for cooking and drinking.

“Under the previous approach, a child must be poisoned before the source of contamination is identified and mitigated,” said Clinical Professor Michelle Nowlin JD/MA ’92, the clinic co-director. “This regulatory gap may result in the exposure of hundreds of children to lead, albeit at levels lower than the outdated statutory threshold for ‘poisoning,’ and highlights a distinct need for focused regulatory attention on health standards as opposed to corrosion control for drinking water.” The new rule would help close that gap for the youngest and most vulnerable children, she said. More than 230,000 babies and young children attend licensed child care centers in North Carolina.

Fifteen clinic students from the Law School and the Nicholas School of the Environment contributed research as the rule was being developed, working closely with the clinic’s client, NC Child, as well as personnel at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the N.C. Licensed Child Care Association and scientists at RTI International. They helped to identify and articulate the gaps in regulatory coverage and the associated health challenges, researched possible legislative and regulatory approaches and mitigation strategies, drafted the proposed rule language and fiscal note, and advocated for the rule’s adoption through formal written and oral comments.