HK Observer | Taking the lead on lead

Robert Carroll

Excess lead has been discovered in the tap water of several Hong Kong public housing estates, and will likely be found in private estates as well. The really alarming part of this is that young kids and unborn babies can suffer from permanent brain damage from ingesting very modest quantities of the metal. The challenge is that there is no acceptable quantity of lead in water for the very young. Let’s look at some of the facts. Bearing in mind that 10µg per deciliter is the limit both here and in Europe, let’s see what the 2010 World Health Organisation’s booklet says on childhood lead poisoning: “(i) recent research indicates that lead is associated with neurobehavioural damage at blood levels of 5µg/dl and even lower (hitherto, 10µg/dl has been considered to be the trigger for concern); (ii) there appears to be no threshold level below which lead causes no injury to the developing human brain (iii) an increase in blood lead level from < 1 to 10µg/dl has been associated with an intelligence quotient (IQ) loss of 6 points; and (iv) further IQ losses of between 2.5 and 5 have been associated with an increase in blood level over the range 10 to 20µg/dl.
A number of tests here have returned results well over the 10 µg limit, which could lead to a 10 point drop in IQ; that’s around ten percent of the average person’s score. There’s no doubt that comprehensive action should be taken to minimize risk to the population by replacing plumbing, where practicable, and by setting up comprehensive testing systems to warn people of lead traces in their home water in the meantime.
However, recognizing the problem and solving it is no light matter; it will probably be as much of a mammoth task as it has been in other advanced economies. One in four children may be at risk of consuming lead-tainted water in Europe, according to a report by the UK’s Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). CIWEM points out that even in the UK, where there have long been acceptance and studies of the problem, as well as comparatively less kids being at risk than in continental Europe. Nevertheless 40% of British homes still get water through lead pipes, with this figure reaching up to 75% in some communities. Hong Kong is at a disadvantage in tackling the problem because, as the latest scandal has revealed, the sheer extent of the problem is unknown.
Having begun by blaming only the plumber of one the first estates affected, the government has switched tack to admit that the main contractors should be held responsible. It will be interesting to see just how far the big contractors will be forced to go if the scale of the problem is far more extensive than what is known at present.
The government is on the back foot having been slow to react, in an attempt to downplay the issue and then to dismiss unofficial test results. That the Water Supplies Department’s own testing methods minimize the findings of lead content, noted by the society of Hospital Pharmacists, is hardly helping to win public confidence.
The government has lost its opportunity to be active on this matter, which the political parties have not ignored. The silver lining in all of this is that the chief executive held a long and seemingly productive meeting over the matter with Emily Lau, the head of the Democrat party — after a Legco democrat member had brought the matter to public attention. This is the first time that the CE is willing to work with Lau. Perhaps a door has opened for increased collaboration with the pan-democrats, a long-desirable situation from both sides.