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There seems to be a disturbing lack of interest in figuring out how these people are actually getting poisoned. Will replacing all the lead pipes actually have

There seems to be a disturbing lack of interest in figuring out how these people are actually getting poisoned. Will replacing all the lead pipes actually have an effect? Why is it that hundreds of thousands of people in Rhode Island drink water from lead pipes, but only hundreds are poisoned per year? What about other causes, like lead-based paint exposure, or less obvious things like giving your kid 5oz of fruit juice per day[0]? Every non-child pictured in the article is obese and I begin to wonder what their knowledge or interest in nutrition is - I know multiple people who feed their child way more than 5oz of fruit juice per day, even after I told them about heavy metal concerns, because they can't believe that 'getting fruit' can be bad. https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/arsenic-and-lead-are-in-your-fruit-juice-what-you-need-to-know/ https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/arsenic-and-lead...

hpoe 5y ago
Shhh, don't bring that up. Come on over here we have a nice identity driven controversy to get you invested in, look at how bad this [OTHER GROUP] is, they did this bad thing. Isn't that much more inflammatory, doesn't that make you want to click and complain more. Good, focus on what we tell you is important. Good see don't you feel that dopamine, doesn't it feel good to be angry about things your identity is invested into.
- dang 5y ago
  Please don't post this kind of thing to HN. Like most high-indignation/low-information comments, it's well below the quality line for interesting discussion. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
dm03514 5y ago
I'm wondering this too, which exposure vectors? How much exposure is necessary? I really couldn't find anything on it? Will one inhale of lead dust cause poisoning or a spike in levels? Does it require consistent ingestion? Like we know lead is bad for children and the best case is lead free environment, but that's not available to most of us. What's the in between? How does exposure manifest in lead blood levels? I just bought an old house with known lead paint. I had as much remediated as I could but there is still (covered) lead paint on the radiators, door casings, stairs, soil and porches. What sort of exposure does this provide my children? How likely are these to be airborne? How much ingested lead dust is necessary to affect my children's blood levels? We had a baseline blood test before we moved in, but now it's just waiting 4 months until their updated test, and me being an anxious mess and wiping everything down and touching up paint constantly.
nabla9 5y ago
> Why is it that hundreds of thousands of people in Rhode Island drink water from lead pipes, but only hundreds are poisoned per year? For the same reason why Flint water trough lead pipes was good for decade turned dangerous very quickly after one change. The questions you asks have answers. Those answers are clearly communicated in the news and research. They are basic information by know for anyone interested. Just asking them reveals that you don't follow issues. This is not a good way to be skeptic.
- chaganated 5y ago
  The article presented no evidence as to the source of these specific poisonings. "It was the pipes!" is sloppy guesswork. There are so many contaminants in the environment today. It would be better for everyone if they broke out the test kits & left no stone un-turned. Remember what they say about assumptions.
klyrs 5y ago
There are leaded pipes in Flint, MI too. That was fine, until the city changed its water supply. Old lead pipes have a passivating layer, due to reactions with the water -- but changing the pH of the water can strip the passivating layer, and dissolve the lead into drinking water. I don't think there's a "lack of interest" in determining how the poisonings occur (otherwise I wouldn't know this about Flint). But, that's not the purpose of this specific study, which aims to be a cross-sectional analysis of how much lead is in kids' blood. This sort of study can inspire more targeted research into specific causes.
- hinkley 5y ago
  Chloramine also strips the layer, so mixing water from another district that uses chloramine can also cause this problem. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the case in Flint? I believe the same thing happened around the turn of the century somewhere in Pennsylvania? In that case it just affected one section of the distribution grid, not the entire city. Somewhere on the order of a thousand kids. IIRC they got free testing and I think some health care for life.

hpoe 5y ago

Shhh, don't bring that up. Come on over here we have a nice identity driven controversy to get you invested in, look at how bad this [OTHER GROUP] is, they did this bad thing. Isn't that much more inflammatory, doesn't that make you want to click and complain more. Good, focus on what we tell you is important. Good see don't you feel that dopamine, doesn't it feel good to be angry about things your identity is invested into.

dang 5y ago
Please don't post this kind of thing to HN. Like most high-indignation/low-information comments, it's well below the quality line for interesting discussion. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

dm03514 5y ago

I'm wondering this too, which exposure vectors? How much exposure is necessary? I really couldn't find anything on it? Will one inhale of lead dust cause poisoning or a spike in levels? Does it require consistent ingestion? Like we know lead is bad for children and the best case is lead free environment, but that's not available to most of us. What's the in between? How does exposure manifest in lead blood levels? I just bought an old house with known lead paint. I had as much remediated as I could but there is still (covered) lead paint on the radiators, door casings, stairs, soil and porches. What sort of exposure does this provide my children? How likely are these to be airborne? How much ingested lead dust is necessary to affect my children's blood levels? We had a baseline blood test before we moved in, but now it's just waiting 4 months until their updated test, and me being an anxious mess and wiping everything down and touching up paint constantly.

nabla9 5y ago

> Why is it that hundreds of thousands of people in Rhode Island drink water from lead pipes, but only hundreds are poisoned per year? For the same reason why Flint water trough lead pipes was good for decade turned dangerous very quickly after one change. The questions you asks have answers. Those answers are clearly communicated in the news and research. They are basic information by know for anyone interested. Just asking them reveals that you don't follow issues. This is not a good way to be skeptic.

chaganated 5y ago
The article presented no evidence as to the source of these specific poisonings. "It was the pipes!" is sloppy guesswork. There are so many contaminants in the environment today. It would be better for everyone if they broke out the test kits & left no stone un-turned. Remember what they say about assumptions.

klyrs 5y ago

There are leaded pipes in Flint, MI too. That was fine, until the city changed its water supply. Old lead pipes have a passivating layer, due to reactions with the water -- but changing the pH of the water can strip the passivating layer, and dissolve the lead into drinking water. I don't think there's a "lack of interest" in determining how the poisonings occur (otherwise I wouldn't know this about Flint). But, that's not the purpose of this specific study, which aims to be a cross-sectional analysis of how much lead is in kids' blood. This sort of study can inspire more targeted research into specific causes.

hinkley 5y ago
Chloramine also strips the layer, so mixing water from another district that uses chloramine can also cause this problem. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the case in Flint? I believe the same thing happened around the turn of the century somewhere in Pennsylvania? In that case it just affected one section of the distribution grid, not the entire city. Somewhere on the order of a thousand kids. IIRC they got free testing and I think some health care for life.