Concerns about lead in drinking water in schools across the province has the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) urging the provincial government to take action, according to a news release.

On Thursday (April 7), NDP MLA Jennifer Rice (North Coast) introduced a private member’s bill called the Safe Water for Schools Act that would prevent children from being exposed to elevated lead levels in drinking water.

Speaking before the legislative assembly, Rice said safe drinking water is “one of our most basic human needs”.

“Young children are especially vulnerable to contaminated water,” she said. “Yet British Columbians were shocked to learn there are children in British Columbia schools whose drinking water is compromised.”

In the BCTF release, it states worries about lead in school drinking water systems started after a Kitimat teacher had water tested after a failed classroom experiment in 2012. Several years after concerns were raised, tests found contaminated drinking water at four schools in Prince Rupert.

BCTF president Jim Iker said in the release that schools must be a safe place for children, youth, and staff.

“That's why teachers are very supportive of legislation that will help protect our schools from contaminated drinking water,” he said. “I hope the provincial government will support this important and practical private member's bill.”

Rice said in the legislative assembly that an accumulation of low levels of lead in the body over time has been associated with neurological problems in children. In adults, she said, there is risk of developmental problems in fetuses and heart, kidney, and gastrointestinal effects.

“Exposure to lead in childhood has been associated with low intelligence scores as well as behaviour disorders, such as attention deficit disorder and antisocial behaviour,” she said. Rice added that there is no routine testing of lead in drinking water in B.C. schools.

In a B.C. NDP caucus news release the same day, it stated that the Ministry of Health called for routine testing of drinking water in schools in 2014 but it still doesn’t exist.

“We don’t know the full extent of this problem in this province. We need to find out, and the only way to do that is by regularly testing the water quality in B.C. schools,” Rice said. “The Safe Water for Schools Act would ensure that that happens.”

Iker said there is no reason the bill should not receive unanimous support from the legislative assembly, according to the BCTF release.

"The proposed legislation is straightforward and pragmatic," he said. "It calls for regular testing of drinking water in schools and the creation of mitigation strategies when health standards are not met."

Rice said in the NDP release that the only people testing the water in B.C. schools are kids performing classroom science experiments.

"It’s wrong, and it’s past time the Christy Clark government fixed it," she said.

 Follow Jocelyn Aspa on Twitter @jocelynaspa