IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v13y2016i10p970-d79707.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the Gaps in Practice for Combating Lead in Drinking Water in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Wai Ling Lee

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Jie Jia

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Yani Bao

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

Excessive lead has been found in drinking water in Hong Kong in tests carried out in 2015. Investigations have identified that the problem in public rental housing estates was caused by the problematic solders used in the plumbing, and recommendations on enhancing the quality control system and strengthening the relevant water quality standards have been proposed. The cause for the same problem happening in other premises where soldering has not been adopted for water pipe connections is left unidentified. Considering the unidentified cause and the recommendations made, this study aims to identify the gaps in practice followed in Hong Kong for safeguarding the water quality of new installations. A holistic review of governing ordinances and regulations, products and materials used and the testing and commissioning requirements adopted in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world were conducted. Based on international practices and parametric analysis, it was found that there are gaps in practices followed in Hong Kong, which are directly and indirectly leading to the lead-in-water crisis. Recommendations for improvement in the quality control system, and the water quality standards including the allowable lead content and leaching limit for products and materials and the testing and commissioning requirements on plumbing installations have been made. The review and the identified gaps would become useful reference for countries in strengthening their relevant water quality standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Wai Ling Lee & Jie Jia & Yani Bao, 2016. "Identifying the Gaps in Practice for Combating Lead in Drinking Water in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:10:p:970-:d:79707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/10/970/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/10/970/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanna-Attisha, M. & LaChance, J. & Sadler, R.C. & Schnepp, A.C., 2016. "Elevated blood lead levels in children associated with the flint drinking water crisis: A spatial analysis of risk and public health response," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(2), pages 283-290.
    2. Ding-Quan Ng & Yi-Pin Lin, 2016. "Evaluation of Lead Release in a Simulated Lead-Free Premise Plumbing System Using a Sequential Sampling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rama Natarajan & Dana Aljaber & Dawn Au & Christine Thai & Angelica Sanchez & Alan Nunez & Cristal Resto & Tanya Chavez & Marta M. Jankowska & Tarik Benmarhnia & Jiue-An Yang & Veronica Jones & Jernej, 2020. "Environmental Exposures during Puberty: Window of Breast Cancer Risk and Epigenetic Damage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Jason A. Hubbart & Kaylyn S. Gootman, 2021. "A Call to Broaden Investment in Drinking Water Testing and Community Outreach Programs," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Kai Chen & Xiaoping Lin & Han Wang & Yujie Qiang & Jie Kong & Rui Huang & Haining Wang & Hui Liu, 2022. "Visualizing the Knowledge Base and Research Hotspot of Public Health Emergency Management: A Science Mapping Analysis-Based Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Richard Casey Sadler & Amanda Y. Kong & Zachary Buchalski & Erika Renee Chanderraj & Laura A. Carravallah, 2021. "Linking the Flint Food Store Survey: Is Objective or Perceived Access to Healthy Foods Associated with Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Matthew Tuson & Matthew Yap & Mei Ruu Kok & Bryan Boruff & Kevin Murray & Alistair Vickery & Berwin A. Turlach & David Whyatt, 2022. "Improving the Efficiency of Geographic Target Regions for Healthcare Interventions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Lee, Shawna J. & Krings, Amy & Rose, Sara & Dover, Krista & Ayoub, Jessica & Salman, Fatima, 2016. "Racial inequality and the implementation of emergency management laws in economically distressed urban areas," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 1-7.
    7. Alana M. W. LeBrón & Ivy R. Torres & Enrique Valencia & Miriam López Dominguez & Deyaneira Guadalupe Garcia-Sanchez & Michael D. Logue & Jun Wu, 2019. "The State of Public Health Lead Policies: Implications for Urban Health Inequities and Recommendations for Health Equity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-28, March.
    8. Nicole Gorton & Maxim L. Pinkovskiy, 2021. "Credit Access and Mobility during the Flint Water Crisis," Staff Reports 960, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    9. Margaret J. Eggers & John T. Doyle & Myra J. Lefthand & Sara L. Young & Anita L. Moore-Nall & Larry Kindness & Roberta Other Medicine & Timothy E. Ford & Eric Dietrich & Albert E. Parker & Joseph H. H, 2018. "Community Engaged Cumulative Risk Assessment of Exposure to Inorganic Well Water Contaminants, Crow Reservation, Montana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-34, January.
    10. Shooshan Danagoulian & Derek Jenkins, 2021. "Rolling back the gains: Maternal stress undermines pregnancy health after Flint's water switch," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 564-584, March.
    11. Rui Wang & Xi Chen & Xun Li, 2022. "Something in the pipe: the Flint water crisis and health at birth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1723-1749, October.
    12. Dorceta E. Taylor & Katherine Allison & Tevin Hamilton & Ashley Bell, 2023. "Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Food Access in Two Predominantly White Cities: The Case of Lansing, East Lansing, and Surrounding Townships in Michigan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-49, October.
    13. Raoul S. Liévanos & Clare R. Evans & Ryan Light, 2021. "An Intercategorical Ecology of Lead Exposure: Complex Environmental Health Vulnerabilities in the Flint Water Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Neal J. Wilson & Ryan Allenbrand & Elizabeth Friedman & Kevin Kennedy & Amy Roberts & Stephen Simon, 2024. "Visualizing Parcel-Level Lead Risk Using an Exterior Housing-Based Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(1), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Adrienne Katner & Kelsey Pieper & Komal Brown & Hui-Yi Lin & Jeffrey Parks & Xinnan Wang & Chih-Yang Hu & Sheldon Masters & Howard Mielke & Marc Edwards, 2018. "Effectiveness of Prevailing Flush Guidelines to Prevent Exposure to Lead in Tap Water," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    16. Meijie Chen & Yumin Chen & Xiaoguang Wang & Huangyuan Tan & Fenglan Luo, 2019. "Spatial Difference of Transit-Based Accessibility to Hospitals by Regions Using Spatially Adjusted ANOVA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    17. Amber L. Pearson & Richard C. Sadler & Daniel J. Kruger, 2019. "Social Integration may Moderate the Relationship between Neighborhood Vacancy and Mental Health Outcomes: Initial Evidence from Flint, Michigan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1129-1144, September.
    18. Hadis Dastgerdizad & Rachael D. Dombrowski & Bree Bode & Kathryn A. G. Knoff & Noel Kulik & James Mallare & Ravneet Kaur & Heather Dillaway, 2023. "Community Solutions to Increase the Healthfulness of Grocery Stores: Perspectives of Immigrant Parents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-20, August.
    19. Daniel S. Grossman & David J.G. Slutsky, 2017. "The Effect of an Increase in Lead in the Water System on Fertility and Birth Outcomes: The Case of Flint, Michigan," Working Papers 17-25, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    20. Ye, Liangfei & Dong, Qianqian & Gasteyer, Stephen, 2024. "Decomposition analysis to assess intervention strategies for reducing health-related exposure disparities in Michigan public drinking water systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:10:p:970-:d:79707. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.