For decades, scientists and medical workers have warned that even low levels of lead in human blood can have a deleterious impact on health. But that has not stopped the Trump administration from threatening to end the few measures that currently attempt to limit exposure to a wide range of toxicants, including lead.

Public health advocates nationwide collectively breathed a sigh of relief when, in the fall of 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced a rule requiring water utilities to replace nearly all lead pipes by 2034.

But following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his GOP allies indicated their desire to upend the effort.

They have a multipronged approach: House Republicans have introduced a joint resolution to repeal the rule. They’ve also invoked something called the Congressional Review Act, which allows Trump’s administration to disregard rules that were promulgated during the final months of the previous administration.

If the Trump administration is successful, millions of people will continue to be exposed to lead and other damaging neurotoxins.

Children — especially those under the age of 6 — will be particularly vulnerable, and likely harmed, if the government refuses to remediate their excessive exposure.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who swallow or breathe in lead are adversely impacted, with possible health complications, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, hearing and speech difficulties, and slowed growth and physical development.

These issues do not mysteriously vanish as kids become adolescents and then adults. In fact, lead-borne damage to a child’s central nervous system correlates with high blood pressure, anemia, headaches, cardiovascular problems and kidney disease in later life. Moreover, lead accumulates in the body over time and is stored in teeth and bones, becoming a potential source of fetal exposure during pregnancy.

We know how lead gets into our bodies. Research by environmental scientists has shown that while there are numerous sources of exposure, several particular culprits pose the greatest danger: aging and corroding lead pipes and service lines that bring tainted water into our homes, schools and workplaces; lead solder from pipe fittings; antiquated lead-containing water fixtures, sinks, faucets and bubblers; and chipping lead paint that spews dust into the air.

“The new administration says it wants to ‘make America healthy again.’ This is hard to do if you allow lead to get into children’s brains.”

Lead exposure is particularly acute in some of the U.S.’s largest cities. A study released in 2024 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimates that 68 percent of Chicago kids under the age of 6 live in a household with lead-tainted tap water, with a total of 2.7 million Windy City residents impacted by the poison.

Chicago is not an anomaly. Research conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund in 2024 named Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; New York City and St. Louis, Missouri, as the cities with the most lead service lines. Moreover, a recent study in Syracuse, New York, found lead in almost all of the city’s public schools; 10 percent of the children tested showed elevated blood lead levels.

But lead is not confined to urban areas — it has also been found in rural and suburban towns of all sizes, and in all 50 states. That said, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental activists know that the toxin has a disproportionate impact........

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