BREWER – Local officials are advising residents how to reduce their exposure to lead as the city continues to combat elevated levels of the heavy metal in some homes.

City workers tested the water from 40 selected homes or buildings in June as part of routine, biannual sampling. Twelve of the 40 samples contained levels of lead above the 15 parts per billion threshold allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Brewer officials said the elevated levels do not constitute an emergency and that the number of sites with lead problems is declining.

They are disseminating information, however, on the steps that residents – especially those living in older homes – can take to reduce the risk of health problems tied to lead poisoning.

Children especially are susceptible to elevated lead levels, which can delay physical and mental development as well as cause learning problems.

Long-term exposure to lead can cause kidney problems or high blood pressure in adults.

Steps to reduce lead exposure from drinking water include:

. Run tap water for 15 to 30 seconds, at least until it becomes cold, before drinking the water or using it to cook. Running the tap will help flush any standing lead that accumulated in pipes.

. Do not cook with or drink water from the hot tap because lead dissolves more easily in hot water.

. Have a professional check your home’s pipes, pipe soldering and waterline connections for lead content.

. Flush loose lead solder and debris from newly installed pipes by removing faucet strainers and running the water for three to five minutes.

. Never boil water in an attempt to remove lead. Boiling causes water to evaporate but leaves the lead behind.

Scott Clukey, superintendent of the Brewer Water Department, said the city is making slow but steady progress reducing the number of homes that have lead levels above the EPA’s 15 ppb “action level.”

But the lead-reduction program, which involves adding soda ash and sodium hydroxide to the public water to reduce lead leaching and pipe corrosion, takes time to make its way throughout the water system, he said.

“At the time we started, we had 23 out of 40 above the action level,” Clukey said. “We have a very aggressive corrosion control program … and it is working very well.”

Clukey said all of the 40 sites tested were constructed between 1982 and 1988, which is about the time the U.S. government banned the use of lead solder and piping.

The city also is gradually replacing any joints or other piping within the public water system that contain lead.

“Most of the time, it is coming from fixtures in people’s homes,” he said.

Drinking water is not the only source of lead for people. The EPA estimates that drinking water constitutes 20 percent or more of a person’s total exposure to lead.

Other sources include chips and dust from older paint that contains lead and air pollution.

Residents living in houses or buildings that continue to have higher lead levels, even after taking preventive steps, also may want to consider installing water filters or using bottled water.

Some common, activated carbon filtration devices effectively remove lead from water.