Beyond Flint: The Full Extent of Lead Contamination in the United States
When people think about lead poisoning water, most will think of one thing: the Flint Water Crisis. Since 2014, when the city's water supply was changed to the Flint River, the city's water has been contaminated by dangerously high levels of lead, drawing much national attention.
Lead poisoning in water can have disastrous side effects, especially on children, whose body's filtration systems aren't as developed. Consequences of lead poisoning include lower IQ, developmental delays, and behavioral issues, including ADHD. But while the Flint water crisis has rightfully garnered national attention, the problem of lead water contamination isn't limited to just Flint. Despite all the attention put on Flint, there are several areas across the country whose lead poisoning crises are much worse.
According to a 2016 Reuters report, children in 3000 areas across the country have lead poisoning rates higher than Flint, a third of which has lead poisoning rates 4x higher than Flint. The primary cause behind these high levels of lead poisoning is lead pipes. As lead pipes grow older, they begin to deteriorate and the lead that makes up the interior of the pipes begin to corrode, fall off, and contaminate the water flowing through them.
Lead pipes were banned in 1986, when a federal law was prohibiting lead pipes be used in water systems. However, that still leaves around 6 million water systems across the country that still use lead pipes, many of which are beginning to fall apart after decades of use. To make matters worse, the issue isn't being addressed nearly fast enough - according to a recent study, an estimated .5% of the lead pipes are being replaced per year, meaning it would take 200 years for all the lead pipes to be replaced.
Lead poisoning in children is especially alarming in schools, which tend to use municipal water systems. Whereas families can make things better in their homes by replacing their pipes or installing water filters, there is little they can do to protect their children from lead poisoning when they go to school.
According to a study published in March 2019 surveying lead levels in school water in 32 states, 22 received a letter grade of an "F". A major reason for this is that, even though lead levels get tested at water treatment plants, they are rarely ever tested at school drinking fountains after they have gone through lead pipes, where they are most likely to have been contaminated.
In recent years, several states have taken action to make their schools' drinking water cleaner. One of the most notable of these states is California, which has showed the most improvement since 2018, going from an F in 2017 to a C+ in 2019 after an unprecedented law was passed to overhaul the state's water system. The law required all public water systems to create an inventory of all lead pipe service lines in the state, before creating and implementing a timeline to replace them as soon as possible.
But the most successful area in increasing their water safety is Washington DC, which currently sits at a grade of B+. This is because, instead of waiting for tests of lead levels in water to finish and then deciding what to do based on the test results, DC has begun to place water filters directly onto the drinking fountains, thus quickly making their water safer.
Although Flint has finally managed to bring their lead levels to a semi-normal state, there's still a long way to go before the issue of lead contamination is completely resolved. Not only is it an issue that is prevalent throughout the country, but it also has lasting effects on generations to come. However, as history has shown, it is possible for it to be resolved, as long as people are willing to take action.
Sources:
https://youtu.be/YPEqOde_Lv0
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lead-in-americas-water-systems-is-a-national-problem/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/03/18/a-legal-loophole-might-be-exposing-children-to-lead-in-the-nations-schools/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a1ba290716b2
https://environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/reports/GetTheLeadOut_032119.pdf
Lead poisoning in water can have disastrous side effects, especially on children, whose body's filtration systems aren't as developed. Consequences of lead poisoning include lower IQ, developmental delays, and behavioral issues, including ADHD. But while the Flint water crisis has rightfully garnered national attention, the problem of lead water contamination isn't limited to just Flint. Despite all the attention put on Flint, there are several areas across the country whose lead poisoning crises are much worse.
According to a 2016 Reuters report, children in 3000 areas across the country have lead poisoning rates higher than Flint, a third of which has lead poisoning rates 4x higher than Flint. The primary cause behind these high levels of lead poisoning is lead pipes. As lead pipes grow older, they begin to deteriorate and the lead that makes up the interior of the pipes begin to corrode, fall off, and contaminate the water flowing through them.
Lead pipes were banned in 1986, when a federal law was prohibiting lead pipes be used in water systems. However, that still leaves around 6 million water systems across the country that still use lead pipes, many of which are beginning to fall apart after decades of use. To make matters worse, the issue isn't being addressed nearly fast enough - according to a recent study, an estimated .5% of the lead pipes are being replaced per year, meaning it would take 200 years for all the lead pipes to be replaced.
Lead poisoning in children is especially alarming in schools, which tend to use municipal water systems. Whereas families can make things better in their homes by replacing their pipes or installing water filters, there is little they can do to protect their children from lead poisoning when they go to school.
In recent years, several states have taken action to make their schools' drinking water cleaner. One of the most notable of these states is California, which has showed the most improvement since 2018, going from an F in 2017 to a C+ in 2019 after an unprecedented law was passed to overhaul the state's water system. The law required all public water systems to create an inventory of all lead pipe service lines in the state, before creating and implementing a timeline to replace them as soon as possible.
But the most successful area in increasing their water safety is Washington DC, which currently sits at a grade of B+. This is because, instead of waiting for tests of lead levels in water to finish and then deciding what to do based on the test results, DC has begun to place water filters directly onto the drinking fountains, thus quickly making their water safer.
Although Flint has finally managed to bring their lead levels to a semi-normal state, there's still a long way to go before the issue of lead contamination is completely resolved. Not only is it an issue that is prevalent throughout the country, but it also has lasting effects on generations to come. However, as history has shown, it is possible for it to be resolved, as long as people are willing to take action.
Sources:
https://youtu.be/YPEqOde_Lv0
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/
https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lead-in-americas-water-systems-is-a-national-problem/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/03/18/a-legal-loophole-might-be-exposing-children-to-lead-in-the-nations-schools/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a1ba290716b2
https://environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/reports/GetTheLeadOut_032119.pdf
This is messed up. America has so many problems with infrastructure. With some things, like railroads and potholes, I can understand the slowness, even if I don't like it. However, the lead pipe crisis is literally life-threatening, and insidiously damaging the minds of the next generation. I think the problem with cases like these is that it takes a crisis to motivate politicians to get the stuff done. In daily life, the water system is not the sexiest or most emotionally charged topic; only when something truly bad happens, unfortunately, do people begin to invest in change.
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