Missouri Senate overwhelmingly approves bill requiring schools test, filter water for lead

Schools in Missouri would be required to test drinking water for lead, and install filters if it’s above safe levels, under a bill that won near-unanimous approval Monday in the state Senate.

The proposal, amended onto a separate bill by Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, passed on a 32-1 vote.

“Let’s make sure our students, staff and teachers have clean water in our schools,” Schupp said in a text message to The Independent. “Lead causes lasting damage. We have the ability to clean it up, and now is the time to move this effort forward.”

The bill now heads to the Missouri House, where a similar proposal has yet to come up for a floor debate. The legislative session ends at 6 p.m. May 13.

Lead is a neurotoxin that, while harmful to all, is especially dangerous to children. Exposure to even small doses of lead can cause lasting damage, including slowed growth and development and hearing, speech and learning problems.

Scientists have known lead to be dangerous for more than a century, but it was commonly used in water pipes, paint and household products for most of the 20th Century and lingers in the environment now.