Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians drink lead-contaminated water

According to the freshly published results of the National Public Health Centre’s project that assessed the lead content of drinking water, there is a significant health risk due to the lead content of tap water, which mainly affects the Hungarian capital and cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Within the framework of the program, residents and institutions across the country had the opportunity to test the lead content of tap water free of charge.

14% of the samples exceeded the limit value, and the highest lead content was found in the capital.

Accordingly, more than 600,000 inhabitants in Budapest and another 130,000 people nationwide can drink lead-contaminated water, especially in larger cities.

The study proved to be important as lead is a heavy metal that primarily endangers the health of fetuses, infants and young children. According to the results, the most significant heavy metal pollution was experienced in the internal districts, especially in those areas where the buildings were constructed before 1945.