Congressional panel finds possible lead risk in some D.C. children's water

How safe is the tap water in the District? In 2004, there was a major scare when lead levels spiked, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reassured residents that its tests found the water safe to drink. End of story? Not quite.

Last month a congressional subcommittee looking into the CDC's actions reported that the agency had knowingly used faulty data in 2004. The report by a House science and technology subcommittee also concluded that the CDC has not publicized more-thorough internal research from 2007 showing that lead was still an issue -- with elevated levels showing up in children's blood -- and that even today it continues to endanger thousands.

District water authorities say the 2004 concerns are long gone: They made a chemical change in the city's tap water to reduce lead leaching, and the drinking water has been fine since 2006. But the subcommittee said that children living in 9,100 residences where only partial replacement of lead pipes has occurred were still potentially at risk.

High levels of lead in drinking water can harm children and babies in utero whose mothers are drinking the water; these health effects include brain damage and developmental delays.

-- Leslie Tamura