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Report: Lead Levels Higher in Flint Kids After Water Switch
Source: Associated Press
Report: Lead Levels Higher in Flint Kids After Water Switch
By JEFF KAROUB, ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT — Jun 24, 2016, 3:29 PM ET
Flint children under the age of 6 had significantly higher blood-lead levels after the city switched its water source in 2014 to save money, according to report released Friday by U.S. disease experts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report said the likelihood a child would have a concerning blood-lead level — at least 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood — was about 50 percent higher after the April 2014 switch from Detroit's water system to the Flint River. Flint used the water for 18 months, during which lead leached from old pipes in homes, businesses and schools because the water wasn't treated to control corrosion. The city switched back to Detroit's system in October.
"This crisis was entirely preventable, and a startling reminder of the critical need to eliminate all sources of lead from our children's environment," Patrick Breysse, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, said in a statement.
About 9,600 children younger than 6 years old lived in homes served by Flint's water system, the report said. Among them, about 7,300 received nearly 9,700 blood lead tests before, during and after the water source switch.
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By JEFF KAROUB, ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT — Jun 24, 2016, 3:29 PM ET
Flint children under the age of 6 had significantly higher blood-lead levels after the city switched its water source in 2014 to save money, according to report released Friday by U.S. disease experts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report said the likelihood a child would have a concerning blood-lead level — at least 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood — was about 50 percent higher after the April 2014 switch from Detroit's water system to the Flint River. Flint used the water for 18 months, during which lead leached from old pipes in homes, businesses and schools because the water wasn't treated to control corrosion. The city switched back to Detroit's system in October.
"This crisis was entirely preventable, and a startling reminder of the critical need to eliminate all sources of lead from our children's environment," Patrick Breysse, director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, said in a statement.
About 9,600 children younger than 6 years old lived in homes served by Flint's water system, the report said. Among them, about 7,300 received nearly 9,700 blood lead tests before, during and after the water source switch.
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/report-lead-levels-higher-flint-kids-water-switch-40106089