Lead has the atomic number 82 on the periodic table, with an atomic mass of 207.2 amu. It is one of the five most toxic commonly found heavy metals in the human body, the others being: mercury, cadmium, aluminum, and arsenic. Lead has a toxicity rating high enough that any physically measurable presence of it in the tissues can result in health complications.
Common Causes of Lead Exposure
There are several ways lead can get into our systems. Some of the more common causes will be listed below, but are not by any means the only pathways.
Even though lead based paint is no longer made in the United States, it still is in our surroundings. Many old buildings and homes still contain lead paint. When those buildings are destroyed, or the paint is stripped or chips away, it can cause a hazard for those in its proximity.
Occupational exposure is without a doubt the number one cause of lead poisoning as far as adults are concerned. Many skilled trades related to construction, as well as plumbing, ammunition, mining, and others.
In urban areas, especially around industrial sectors that use lead in their products, lead can make its way into the soil. From there, due to runoff from rainfall, it can end up in the nearby rivers or lakes. This, in turn, can also result in it turning up in drinking water. This can also be the case if you have an aging or inadequately constructed piping system.
Lead Ore. People who have the occupations of mining and smelting can be put at special risk if they are not given the right personal protection equipment, or if the equipment is not functioning optimally.
Lead can cause a wide variety of negative health conditions. Central to its ability to do so stems from two main factors. It can mimic the appearance to the body's enzymes of many beneficial metals that are essential to health. The second is a partial consequence of the first - lead has a higher proficiency to binding to these enzymes, which displaces the beneficial metals from binding and interacting.
Several of these beneficial metals are only needed, and bioavailable in small amounts in the diet. Hence, it doesn't take a lot of lead in the body to prevent these interactions and cause significant inhibition to these necessary processes. Therefore, it is considered a highly toxic heavy metal. The limit for lead in the body before it is considered to be at risk is only 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood, and 5 micrograms per deciliter for children.
What Health Problems Can Occur as a Result of Lead?
Because trace elements are needed for optimal function of virtually every system in the body, the complications of lead can also cause a wide array of health problems. One of the most notable is the inhibition of brain development in children. Lead is capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier, and can affect several facets of cognition. Everything from learning disorders and memory loss to behavioral issues have been associated with elevated levels of lead in young children. These particular effects are not reversible with current medical technology.
Lead is known to affect at least three other body systems as well - cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive. High elevation of lead has been proven to reduce sperm count. Correspondingly in females, excessive lead is linked to low birth weight and a higher likelihood of miscarriage.
High blood pressure and thus a greater risk of heart disease has also been linked to lead poisoning. This is of special concern to people who have other risk factors such as excess weight, or who have smoked in the past or present. Long term exposure also taxes the kidneys, and also leaves the afflicted vulnerable to diabetes.
A Brief Overview of the Flint Water Crisis
Before 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan purchased their water from Detroit, which was taken from Lake Huron and treated. Starting in 2010, Genesee County had pushed to establish the Karegondi Water Authority and cease to buy water from Detroit. The KWA project was expected to be finished by 2016. The stated intention was cost reduction. In 2013, the Flint City Council voted to approve that measure. This led to calls from Detroit for the state of Michigan to block the switch, stating that it would cause a price war. Then in April, 2014, in another effort to save $5 million per year, the city of Flint stopped purchasing water from Detroit two years before the KWA would be finished, and resort to obtaining water from the Flint River.
Immediately after the switch, the quality of the water became apparent to the residents. It had an unusual scent and taste. The clamor among the residents resulted in vigorous testing, revealing bacteria and leading to boil alerts.
Months later, further testing revealed not only high lead counts, but also carcinogenic chlorine compounds, which stemmed from the introduction of chlorine to kill the bacteria that had been found earlier. In early 2015, after much outrage and petitions, the city council voted to resume purchasing water from Detroit. This was blocked by the emergency manager Jerry Ambrose, appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. Ambrose cited the EPA and the environmental department of the state in his claim that Flint water was safe. In late 2015, it was found that the elevated lead levels were due to an essential chemical being left out of the standard treating process. It was also later revealed that state employees in the Flint area were given filters over a year before this crisis came to light in national news in early 2016, while public denials of the danger of the water were being spoken.
The Sphere of Health Advocates for Water Privatization
In the midst of this horrible crisis that is threatening the health, and the lives of the residents involved, both adult and child alike, there is plenty of blame being tossed around. Most notably towards Governor Rick Snyder and his appointed emergency manager, Jerry Ambrose. Many people are outraged at the state forcibly taking over the water management of a city who was not inclined to yield it away. This viewpoint definitely has merit. This is especially true when its appointees demonstrate no more competence than the city had in managing its own water.
However, as much heat that has been put on Rick Snyder, much of it deserved, this is not only a failure of the state government of Michigan. There was also gross incompetence at the city level, and of the EPA. The city of Flint abandoned its reliable water supply before a suitable alternative was established.
On the fiscal policy end, there are some academic pundits that place the blame on austerity measures. However, the creation of the KWA was in fact a government stimulus project. However, a solution to incompetent governmental policy is not overreaching by another level of government.
The effective solution to this problem to reduce the chance of this happening in the future is to cease governmental control over the water supply. Let us look at the effects of privatization of the water utilities.
There is a far more incentive for competing private services to provide safe, clean drinking water than government controlled institutions. This is true for two main reasons.
There is far more legal accountability among a private provider than there is among the government. If a private provider is found to be negligent, and causes harm to their consumers, they do not have a monopoly over the legal system. They could lose everything they have and be forced out of business, and out of money stemming from class action lawsuits, and other legal sanctions, including possible prison sentences if there is enough willful neglect.
Contrast that with the current crisis in Flint. The unfortunate victims of this negligence and subsequent malicious cover up will not be able to sue the people responsible. This is because the people responsible are the government, who has control over the legal system and takes the position of sovereign immunity. Citizens are disallowed from suing the government from harm stemming from negligence unless the government itself consents to being sued. A private provider has no such luxury.
Market discipline is also one of the most effective deterrents from willful negligence. If a private provider delivers current Flint quality water - even if they managed to escape payment as a result of lawsuits, they would undoubtedly go out of business in favor of competitors who would be willing to be more conscientious. Looking back at the Enron crisis, the market was a much more judicious punisher than the government. It was the market that sunk Enron's stock, pushed it into bankruptcy, and finally into non-existence. Without a forcible monopoly on the water, it is the best providers that will end up safely delivering this most essential product.
It is of particular note that nearly a quarter of the United States population already receives their water from private sourcing. The communities that have done so have been largely very happy with their provider - over 90 percent of them vote to continue with privatization.
For these reasons, supported by the results, the Sphere of Health urges Flint, along with all communities across the United States and the world to push for privatization of the water treatment services.
