By now it's pretty hard to NOT hear about a crisis in Flint, MI, where extremely high levels of lead have been found in the drinking water. It seems that what happened is in an effort to save money, the emergency manager appointed by Governor Rick Snyder (the town was being managed by an unelected manager to avoid bankruptcy) switched from buying water from Detroit (sourced from Lake Huron) to the Flint River, which residents knew was polluted. The manager overrode elected officials. And then they proceeded to not treat the already polluted river water properly, which left it in a state where it was corrosive on the water infrastructure, which contained lead. And that lead to lead (excuse the pun) getting into the water residents were using to drink, bathe, and basically do most of their every day things. Because the pipes have already been corroded now, it is likely that no matter what water they pump through the pipes, lead is going to get into it.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/18/us/flint- ... ve-things/
Talk about a case of something you take for granted going bad.
Lead is not good for any human being to consume, but it is particularly dangerous for children. In kids, it is a potent neurotoxin, and can cause a variety of neurological developmental issues including behavior problems, lowered IQ, attention deficit, difficulties learning languages and communicating, and learning disabilities. Besides that, it can also stunt growth and cause anemia (low red blood cell count), affect bone and muscle strength and coordination. And it's not good for adults either, as lead can also affect developing fetuses the same way it affects kids, so it's particularly dangerous for pregnant women to be exposed to. It also can damage the heart and cardiovascular system, harm the kidneys to point of causing kidney failure in acute exposure or over long term build up, and cause cognitive decline and impair memory and concentration. It also builds up in the system, particularly the teeth and bones where it replaces calcium, so even exposure to small amounts is dangerous as it just accumulates over time. Lead even seems to cause some genetic changes, so once there's been exposure, the damage can be done through generations. There is no level of lead exposure that is considered "safe" as even small amounts of highly toxic.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs379/en/
It seems that basically everyone at every level of decision making shares some blame, including the EPA. But it also seems that evidence is coming to light that the emergency managers and the governor knew of what was going on for quite some time, but did nothing to protect the residents from their toxic tap water. Right now, at least, I see cases of criminal negligence, and I think there is more than enough cause for Snyder to, at a minimum, resign. And I will not be surprised to see criminal charges sometime down the line.
I also cannot help but agree with a meme I've seen floating around that basically makes the point that if ISIS or any other terror group did something that resulted in the poisoning of a city's water supply like this there would be an immediate uproar and action, but this really doesn't seem to be too much on the media's mind until recently, even though this has been going on for a while now. And it took a shamefully long amount of time for officials to do much to help.