Dangerously high levels of lead in some Quebec Schools

MONTREAL - The Quebec government announced this week that it would test lead levels in schools.

The announcement comes after a LaPresse and Universite de Montreal investigation tested water at 24 schools and found four with higher lead levels than is recommended.

Researcher Sebastien Sauve said that for this investigation, they tested the water in a new way.

Previously, researchers tested for lead only after letting water run for five minutes. More often, those tests come back with low lead levels. But that was a problem, Sauve said, because it wasn't the water people were drinking.

So for this study, the researchers gave children water bottles and told them to bring them back full. The kids brought back water straight from their school's water fountain to be tested. It was the water the kids would have drank, Sauve said.

The Quebec government has now stepped in. Education Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said all Quebec schools would be subjected to similar tests.

Lead is a poisonous heavy metal that causes adverse health effects, including memory loss and loss of developmental skills in children when consumed.

But the fix is simple, Sauve said. In some cases, a contaminated water fountain needs only be replaced to fix the situation.

For more, check out Annie Demelt's interview with Sauve above.