Michigan lead

[initforme]

What is happening in Michigan? Seems like state officials knew of high lead levels. Who is in charge over there? Trying to save a buck probably. Oh well its only kids of working poor and middle class with elevated lead levels. I hope to see plenty of hefty lawsuits. I know I would.

 

[gipper]

Government whether run by an R or D, always screws up...because politicians are the worst among us.

 

[ScienceRocks]

The governor is a corrupt son of a bitch and probably should step down.

 

[gipper]

The governor is a corrupt son of a bitch and probably should step down.

What?

This story is a good example of the effectiveness of government...government that you so love and adore.

 

[initforme]

Notice how the story is hush hush. I say the people affected need to get lawyers there and lots of em.

 

[waltky]

Reuters report spurs U.S. cities move to curb lead poisoning...

U.S. cities move to curb lead poisoning following Reuters report
Thu Jan 19, 2017 | Cities and towns across the United States are taking action after a Reuters report identified thousands of communities where children tested with lead poisoning at higher rates than in Flint, Michigan.

From California to Pennsylvania, local leaders, health officials and researchers are advancing measures to protect children from the toxic threat. They include more blood-lead screening, property inspections, hazard abatement and community outreach programs. The University of Notre Dame is offering a graduate course to study and combat local poisoning problems the report helped bring to light. "This has just laid out that it's not just a Detroit issue, it's not just a Baltimore issue," said Ruth Ann Norton, president of Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, a Baltimore-based nonprofit. "This started conversations with mayors and governors."

In an investigation last month, the news agency used census tract and zip code-level data from millions of childhood blood tests to identify nearly 3,000 U.S. communities with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint. More than 1,100 of these neighborhoods had a rate of elevated blood tests at least four times higher than in Flint. A Reuters interactive map, built with previously unpublished data, allowed users to track local poisoning rates across much of the country for the first time. In many areas, residents and officials weren't previously aware of the scope of local children's exposure. The poisoning hazards include deteriorating lead paint, tainted soil and contaminated water.

Flint's lead poisoning is no aberration, Reuters found, but one example of a preventable health crisis that continues in hazardous spots in much of the country. Lead poisoning stunts children's cognitive development, and no level of exposure is considered safe. Though abatement efforts have made remarkable progress in curbing exposure since the 1970s, children remain at risk in thousands of neighborhoods. In South Bend, Indiana, for instance, the data showed several hotspots. In one tract, 31.3 percent of small children tested since 2005 had blood lead levels at or above 5 micrograms per deciliter, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s current threshold for elevated levels in children under age 6. Children at or above this threshold warrant a public health response, the CDC says. (GRAPHIC: tmsnrt.rs/2iSFqm1)

Across Flint, 5 percent of children tested had high levels during the peak of the city's water contamination crisis. After Reuters published its findings, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg held a press conference with county health officials to address local poisoning. Several actions followed: "Everything has moved into fast-forward pace here since your story," said Heidi Beidinger-Burnett, a county health board member and professor at Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health. "We are acting with a sense of urgency because kids here depend on it." Other officials in Indiana are exploring additional measures to protect children. State Senator Jean Breaux introduced a bill this week to compel the state health department to double blood lead screening rates among Indiana children enrolled in Medicaid. The screenings are required for Medicaid-enrolled children, but major testing gaps remain.

CALIFORNIA REACTS