LAS VEGAS (AP) - Health officials said Wednesday that tests found no significant lead contamination in the blood of adults or schoolchildren in a former Nevada mining town where more than the federal safety limit for the heavy metal was found in water samples.
Tests of the blood of seven children and four adults in Goodsprings found less than the five milligrams of lead per deciliter level set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel said.
Pinprick blood tests were done last week after water samples from a community center fountain showed a lead concentration of 16 parts per billion last September. That’s slightly above a federal Environmental Protection Agency limit of 15 parts per billion.
“It appears there was no significant exposure in the community,” Bethel said in an email that described the testing as a precaution. “Our screenings did not indicate the need for further testing.”
An estimated 200 people live in Goodsprings, about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
A community center drinking fountain from which the water sample was drawn was shut off, and additional testing was being done to determine the source of the metal, Bethel said.
The community center is near Goodsprings Elementary School, and the Clark County School District owns the groundwater well serving both the center and the historic school with eight students in grades K-5.
District officials said it was providing bottled water at both facilities until testing was completed on the well water system.
No amount of lead in the blood is considered safe. Health officials say exposure can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children.
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