The rusty and degraded lead pipes in Flint are making the children sick.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The recent events in Flint have lead the United States to realize that the lead poisoning problem is more serious than previously thought. It appears that Flint and Detroit are not the only cities in America where children are exposed to dangerously high amounts of lead. The lead crisis as it was named is more of a national problem.
President Barak Obama has recently visited Flint, the most affected town in the country. Obama stated that if he were living in the area he would be tormented by the fact that his children would be in constant danger of becoming intoxicated with lead.
The problem in Flint began a few years back when the local authorities decided to switch its water source from Lake Huron (that was a bit more pricey but it came with the perks of clean water) to the Flint River (which was used by numerous industries as a dumping site for various hazardous materials).
The switch brought more money to the local budget, but it also brought a lead poisoning epidemics among the children of the town.
Now, the local authorities will have to spend approximately $1.5 billion in order to replace the lead pipes that were damaged by the corrosive ingredients of the Flint River. Because the lead that is poisoning the Flint children doesn’t come from the lake itself, but rather from the pipes that were affected by the hazardous substances that were dumped in the water over the years.
The lead poisoning problem is more serious than previously thought and Flint isn’t the only affected town in the United States. Baltimore, like Flint, is dealing with a lead crisis ever since the 1930’s. But Baltimore’s population, exactly like Flint’s, is made out of African-American and Mexican citizens. And racism still affects the inhabitants of this country more than the authorities care to admit.
Baltimore is dealing with a lead crisis caused by the lead paint that was used in the older stock of houses.
But it seems that the authorities are continuing to deny the dangers of the lead materials that were so popular a few decades ago and that are still on the pipes and houses of a large number of Americans.
The housing secretary of Maryland, Kenneth C. Holt is trying to dismiss the lead crisis in Baltimore saying that mothers are making the children suck on fishing weights made out of lead before taking them to get tested. Allegedly this grants them the right to ask for better housing privileges.
The lead poisoning problem is more serious than previously thought and the official authorities, not just from Flint or Baltimore should take better prevention measures. Lead was a very common and popular ingredient a few decades ago and there are a lot more pipes and a lot more houses painted with lead-based paint in the United States that could harm the health of our children.
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