IT seems that my concerns about the dangers of bad water pipes -- highlighted in a letter I had published on these pages in February -- were well founded, after reading in the Bolton Evening News about the family in Jedburgh Avenue who have been told that their water supply has a lead content 29 times over the safe limit.

Many council properties in Bolton, possibly thousands, still have lead water pipes.

These may not be apparent, as they usually run between the inside and outside stop-cocks. They are the responsibility of Bolton-at-Home.

However, I have been re-assured by the powers-that be that we need not worry unduly about the lead pipes, as they are being replaced as new bathroom and kitchens are installed in council properties.

Unfortunately for some tenants, this programme will take at least five years to complete.

In the meantime, the advice given is that we should run the water for several minutes in the morning, before using it. This, they say, will wash away any lead that has accumulated in the plumbing, leaving the water perfectly safe to drink.

Lead is a neurotoxin that can do irreparable damage to the brain and central nervous system. Over exposure to lead can cause palsies, insomnia, convulsions, hearing loss, kidney failure, cancer and blindness. It can lead to hallucinations, which can cause coma and death. Once absorbed into the body, lead cannot be got rid of.

Because of these dangers, leaded petrol is now being phased out.

Lead is no longer added to paint or pesticides or used in such things as toothpaste tubes and tin-can solder.

Bearing all this in mind, I find the complacency of those responsible to be unbelievable.

According to the powers-that-be, the money is there to do these jobs, and the manpower can be found. So why the delay?

Get the lead out! ... and the new kitchens and bathrooms in, now, as a matter of urgency.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove

Bolton