New EPA Lead Rule Could Result in $5-8 billion in Increased Earnings from IQ Benefits

The EPA is currently in the process of reducing the lead in drinking water action level from 0.015 mg/L to 0.010 mg/L (https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0801-0036). Nearly 200,000 comments were received on this proposed rule, which will also mandate removal of many lead drinking water pipes in the US, and limit copper concentrations. Unlike some toxic substances, we don’t know of any safe level of lead exposure. If one exists at some extremely small value, we don’t have any information to know where that level would be. Our current risk models work in a way to predict that any amount of exposure could produce some harm, if a large enough group of people were affected. And drinking water standards affect most Americans through water we get at home, school, work, and other places. The reason why we allow some lead in drinking water is because it would be very costly to remove it all, and at some point, the risk is small enough that other priorities take precedence.

Reducing lead exposure has likely benefits in increasing health and IQ of children among other benefits like reducing some forms of cardiovascular disease and reducing instances of low birth weight. The total net monetary benefits of the rule are expected to be between $15.3 billion and $31.9 billion over the next decade (including the $5-8 billion in increased earnings from better IQs). Even though there are thousands of water systems in the US, controlling exposure through their regulation is a fairly efficient way to do so, as opposed to cost and reliability issues with trying to manage this by way of residential and business water filters.