In June 2022, Troy Councilwoman Jona Favreau discovered the drinking water at her city residence contained over three times the legal limit of lead. That was after she learned her 2-year-old son had an elevated level of lead in his blood.
“It’s still emotional for me,” Favreau said, reflecting on the moment she learned about her son’s condition and the “great impacts” lead poisoning had on his health. “I carry a lot of guilt with that as a mother.”
Once used in everything from pipes to paint, but now widely banned, lead is a dangerous neurotoxin. Exposure to lead — a naturally occurring element in the Earth’s crust that can be toxic to humans and animals — can cause permanent and disabling damage to a person’s brain and nervous system, particularly children, including developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral issues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…