Lead identified in water fixtures of 100+ UNC campus buildings. This map shows where.
As UNC-Chapel Hill continues to test for lead in campus water, The News & Observer has created an interactive map to help readers track the buildings where detectable levels of the toxic metal are found.
After students doing a summer project first identified lead on campus and their professor reported it to the university in August, lead has been found in water fixtures of more than 100 buildings as of Dec. 15.
Testing is ongoing in additional buildings through a four-phase approach that prioritizes buildings based on age. The university is in the third phase of testing, which targets buildings built in or prior to 1990. The first phase targeted specific fixtures with potential lead components according to the make and model of the fixture, while the second phase targeted fixtures in buildings built in or prior to 1930. A future, fourth phase will target buildings built after 1990.
Unlike public water systems, universities are not required to test campus water regularly, or at all, for lead. Drinking water on the UNC campus has previously been tested by request “if someone believes there is a water quality issue,” The N&O previously reported.
While fixtures are being tested, they are marked with warning signs telling people not to drink from that source. When a water fixture is identified as having detectable levels of lead in the water, the water source is removed from service until the fixture can be fixed, replaced or otherwise remedied, university officials have told The N&O.
In some cases, such as when all of the fixtures in a building are unable to be used due to testing or replacement, the university is providing water coolers for building occupants to use in the meantime.
Use this map to keep track of buildings where lead has been identified. Click on each dot to see the building name, when fixtures there were tested and how many fixtures were found to have lead in them.
We’ll update the map as more test results become available.
Health testing available on campus
Lead, even at low levels of exposure and ingestion, is known to cause adverse health effects, especially in children and pregnant women. In adults, the Environmental Protection Agency says, lead exposure can lead to cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure, hypertension, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems in both men and women.
Health testing is available at no cost to UNC faculty, staff and students who work or study in the affected buildings where lead has been identified.
To access health testing, students and post-doctoral fellows are instructed to contact UNC Campus Health at 919-966-2281. Faculty and staff seeking health testing should contact the University Employee Occupational Health Clinic by phone at 919-966-9119. Non-student and non-employee community members and visitors who have health concerns are instructed to consult with their physicians.
The university has thus far not reported any known adverse health effects or concerning blood lead levels related to the identification of lead on campus.
Additional information from EHS about health testing and the department’s ongoing testing can be found at ehs.unc.edu/topics/campus-drinking-water.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 2:34 PM.
