A CARNOCK woman has expressed health concerns after discovering lead piping in her Fife Council property.

Deborah White has now been told by her doctor that lead levels in her blood are "abnormal" and she should stop drinking tap water in her home.

The district nurse said that despite the blood results, Scottish Water say levels of lead in their water were "within" acceptable levels.

"If you read all the literature, it says there should not be lead pipes and no-one should be exposed to any lead but Scottish Water say it is within the limits," she said.

Dunfermline Press:

"I have still to get regular blood test to make sure levels are coming down in blood. The public need to be aware of long term effects even in low levels of lead in body especially pregnant women, small children and the vulnerable. No-one should be exposed to lead in drinking water.

"I've had sore heads fatigue and increased gastric problems since I moved in here."

The problem came to light when council contractors came to the property to install a new kitchen.

"They came and took all the kitchen out and one of them said 'do you know you have lead there?'. He said he couldn't touch it. He said that was our drinking water pipe and it should have been taken out years ago.

"They advised me to get my bloods taken.

"I was away for the weekend and the doctor phoned and asked if I was ok. I said I was just tired.

"They said you have got lead in your blood. It is abnormal and a bit on the high side. They said not to drink any of the water and to continue buying bottled water.

"He had contacted Public Health Scotland and Scottish Water and they were going to contact Fife Council because there is a certain boundary between the responsibility of Scottish Water and Fife Council.

"Public Health Scotland have been in touch to ask how I was feeling. I still feel as if I am tired and have a bit of brain fog as well as stomach problems."

Fife Council’s head of housing service, John Mills, said that testing of the water supply to the property had shown that it is completely safe to drink and well within Scottish Water’s strict regulatory standards.

“It’s common for any residential property built before 1969 to have a lead main water supply," he said. "The majority of these pipes will have been replaced, however there are still thousands of properties throughout Scotland with lead main water pipes.

“Lead pipes which are already lawfully installed in accordance with the Water Byelaws before 1969 are allowed to remain in use provided they don’t cause the amount of lead in drinking water to exceed the permitted content of 10 micrograms per litre.

“We have reassured Ms White that the pipework in her property is being replaced and our long term aim is to remove all lead water mains from Fife Council properties."