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Given the available ppb information, I have a hard time telling if Flint had a lead crisis at all. Virginia Tech found that in 10% of homes they hit 25ppb inste

Given the available ppb information, I have a hard time telling if Flint had a lead crisis at all. Virginia Tech found that in 10% of homes they hit 25ppb instead of 15ppb standard. And one home had 13,200ppb (which is either testing error, or something special about the house). Outside of the one house, this isn't enough lead exposure to see effects from. EDIT: See thread below. Apparently it was not "Virginia Tech" that is the source for these measurements, as reported by the media, but a group calling themselves "The Virginia Tech Research Team". They maintain http://flintwaterstudy.org/ http://flintwaterstudy.org/ and you can evaluate them for yourself.

ianai 7y ago
The 13k figure is accurate. Lead leaking into water from solder erosion doesn’t follow a constant, predictable level. The lead breaks off at intermittent rates into the flow. Please refer to other comments and sources for more.
- romaaeterna 7y ago
  Looking at the team doing the test's web page doesn't provide great evidence for neutrality: https://imgur.com/ZUoXQ52 https://imgur.com/ZUoXQ52 http://flintwaterstudy.org/about-page/about-us/ http://flintwaterstudy.org/about-page/about-us/ In fact, they look like an advocacy organization, not scientific group at all. Something stinks to high heaven here, and it's not Flint's water.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - ianai 7y ago
    I’m not even referring to that source, straw man attacker.
zaroth 7y ago
Please don’t let facts get in the way of a great narrative! Here we have the Paper of Record saying they want to blame kids’ suspensions on a year’s exposure of barely elevated lead levels in water — levels which by the way probably put the average Flint house in the 90th percentile, but surely not the 99th percentile of houses nationwide. But national statistics don’t make a good story, you need a lens to present it through. So Flint might be that lens, but this is the media getting high on their own supply.
- briandear 7y ago
  The real question is the issue of crime 50 years ago when lead was far more common everywhere. We’re crime rates higher in the past when lead was more prevalent? The destruction of the two parent family probably has more impact on crime than lead.
openasocket 7y ago
The "15ppb standard" isn't exactly what you think it is. The EPA "action level" (at which point they intervene, and the city is required to fix it) is if 10% of homes have more than 15ppb of lead. So if 10% of homes in Flint had 25ppb that's way above that action level. But, to be clear, being under that action level doesn't mean you are fine. The EPA and CDC explicitly say that no amount of lead in drinking water is safe.

ianai 7y ago

The 13k figure is accurate. Lead leaking into water from solder erosion doesn’t follow a constant, predictable level. The lead breaks off at intermittent rates into the flow. Please refer to other comments and sources for more.

romaaeterna 7y ago
Looking at the team doing the test's web page doesn't provide great evidence for neutrality: https://imgur.com/ZUoXQ52 https://imgur.com/ZUoXQ52 http://flintwaterstudy.org/about-page/about-us/ http://flintwaterstudy.org/about-page/about-us/ In fact, they look like an advocacy organization, not scientific group at all. Something stinks to high heaven here, and it's not Flint's water.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ianai 7y ago
  I’m not even referring to that source, straw man attacker.

zaroth 7y ago

Please don’t let facts get in the way of a great narrative! Here we have the Paper of Record saying they want to blame kids’ suspensions on a year’s exposure of barely elevated lead levels in water — levels which by the way probably put the average Flint house in the 90th percentile, but surely not the 99th percentile of houses nationwide. But national statistics don’t make a good story, you need a lens to present it through. So Flint might be that lens, but this is the media getting high on their own supply.

briandear 7y ago
The real question is the issue of crime 50 years ago when lead was far more common everywhere. We’re crime rates higher in the past when lead was more prevalent? The destruction of the two parent family probably has more impact on crime than lead.

openasocket 7y ago

The "15ppb standard" isn't exactly what you think it is. The EPA "action level" (at which point they intervene, and the city is required to fix it) is if 10% of homes have more than 15ppb of lead. So if 10% of homes in Flint had 25ppb that's way above that action level. But, to be clear, being under that action level doesn't mean you are fine. The EPA and CDC explicitly say that no amount of lead in drinking water is safe.