Lead is Still a Problem in the U.S. and it's Largely Due To Politics and Greed

A major topic recently in the United States is the problem of lead poisoning. The problem has been a lingering issue since the 1970’s when lead paint was banned in households. Since the 1970’s lead paint has begun to make it’s way out of households and lead poisoning has dropped dramatically. Currently, it is more common for lead to be ingested from tap water, when it leaks in to the water supply in a number of ways ranging from mining runoff, to corroding water pipes which contain lead. Although there are positives to the use of Lead in some industries, The United States government needs to enforce every city in the United States to take every step necessary to make sure Americans do not get poisoned by lead. 

Although the EPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for Lead in drinking water at zero, there are still cities in the United States with lead in their drinking water (EPA, 2016). Flint Michigan is the ongoing problem that has begun to wake the public up to this problem . In 2014, Flint Michigan changed its water supply from treated Detroit water and sewerage department to the Flint River (Graves, 2016). The impact of this crisis exposed between 6,000 and 12,000 school children to contaminated water, as well as caused an outbreak of legionnaires disease killing 10 and affecting 77 others. When Flint, Michigan switched water systems, they were aiming at saving nearly $5 million dollars in two years. This switch ultimately backfired, hurting the citizens of the city as well as the infrastructure of the city. When the city realized the water was contaminated, they did not immediately fix the problem or notify the residents. This resulted in a huge expense for the city, that far outweighed the money saved not to mention the harm put on the residents, and left the citizens feeling distrust towards their city’s officials. The cost of the repairs to the infrastructure exceeds 60 million as well as public health costs which could be hundreds of millions. Taking short cuts when it comes to public health does not save money in the long run and lead to unfavorable results fiscally and for human health. 

Lead is a naturally occurring element on Earth which can occur in a solid, liquid, or gas form and is thought to be the 36thmost abundant element on Earth (Science, 2016). Pb is leaked into the atmosphere as a particulate pollutant (Science, 2016). In addition to being a particulate pollutant, it is also a primary pollutant which means it is released directly into the air or water. The fact that lead can be released in multiple ways, makes it even more dangerous than many other pollutants. The release of lead can happen in a number of ways ranging from guns to battery acid. Lead can leak into the water from unsafe mining practices. The mining practice of strip mining is a common method of lead mining. This practice removes layers of soil in strips, the resource is extracted, and then the soil is filled back in to the hole that was dug . A common byproduct of this method is Acid Mine Drainage, which is a toxic water flow from the mine that can leak into rivers, lakes, and ground water. Pb is a reactive metal which means that it can react with oxygen releasing a small amount into the air or water before forms a thin outer layer protecting it from further attack. Even with Lead’s ability to form a layer, some may escape before the layer is formed which is enough to cause harm. Because of Lead’s abundance on earth and its ability to move through the environment in multiple ways, it is a much more dangerous and difficult to control pollutant. 

Lead is mined and has been used in different industries and remains spread out vastly across our planet. Although the used of Pb has slowed significantly since the 1980’s, there is still a risk because of the enormous amount already in circulation. Lead, when ingested by pregnant women, can cause problems with cognitive development including a slower speed of information processing for their baby (Boucher, 2014). In 2014, a study was conducted by the university of Quebec to understand the effects of Lead, Polychlorinated biphenyls, and Methylmercury on cognitive development in infants (Boucher, 2014). The umbilical cord blood was tested in local health clinics in Nunavik, Canada with consent from the mothers involved. It was found that the mothers who were exposed to lead during their pregnancy were more likely to have children with slower cognitive functions. Additionally, those children were more likely to develop ADHD (Boucher, 2014). Most studies about Lead are conducted on children who are exposed to lead, which show the long term effects of exposure to Pb including lower IQ scores and attentiveness. This study indicates that exposure to the dangerous toxin can effect a baby before they are born. Babies who are born with lifelong negative impacts aren’t given a proper chance to excel in the world. Additionally, there is no way to know if a child has any negative effects as there is know way of knowing until they are in toddlerhood when they are showing more signs of alertness and attention. 

Lead is a common and inexpensive metal used in many important ways such as batteries, fishing lures, ammunition, boats, and ceramics but needs limits when it concerns human health.

Lead can enter the water supply in different ways, from water pipes containing lead corrode, when brass or chrome faucets contain lead solder, lead paint, lead bullets, and even from the lead in fishing lures (McCloskey, 2014).  It is necessary to educate the public about the harmful effects of lead as well as the items in their homes which may contain lead. Oddly enough, it is a common occurrence for children to ingest lead from lead paint and fishing weights. When a lead weight is ingested it must be surgically removed many times after their Pb levels have already risen significantly (McClockey, 2014). Fishing weights also also fall off of fishing lines in lakes, rivers, and oceans and do not get recovered. The lead from these weights can get ingested by fish or other aquatic life, or erode into the water which can potentially pose harmful effects on the water quality of these areas. Additionally, lead bullets pose a devastating risk to eagles. It has been recorded that Eagles ingest stray bullet fragments. Metallic lead is not harmful to birds in itself, but when a bullet is sot and ricochets it fractures the casing allowing lead powder to escape. When a bird ingests it, it can effect the bird’s physiology state and can result in premature death (Toxnet, 2016). 

            There is a long way to go before the world can be safe from the effects of Lead. Although, there have been regulations put in place to protect people’s homes from lead paint, there is still much more that needs to take place to ensure our children and loved ones do not consume lead without knowing it. The use of Lead in the solder of water pipes needs to be ended. There are types of solder which are lead free, and many pipes around the country use this solder instead of the deadly lead solder. Lead is more cost-effective, however, which makes many companies choose a lead option. Additionally, many of these lead pipes currently in use are very old pipes that were put in place before the effects of lead were commonly known. You can’t blame the people who put these pipes in, as the negative effects were not known. This does mean, however, that steps need to be taken to remove these pipes from circulation. The best way to stop this atrocity, is to enact legislation which would make it illegal to use lead in the manufacturing of any product which might allow humans or animals to ingest it. Replacing old lead pipes needs to be a priority. America made a stand on lead paint in the 1970’s, and it needs to be taken a step further today to include lead pipes. 

Lead occurs naturally in major abundance, so there is no way to completely avoid it. In the past, lead was buried deep underground, not posing a huge threat to human or animal health. The industrial revolution played a key role in extracting this lead from the earth and putting it to use in growing our nations infrastructure. It began as an abundant metal that could be used in many forms for a cheap price. Eventually, when evidence became apparent about the harmful side effects, it’s use began to dwindle. Because of this, there is an immense amount of it that is no longer under the surface of the earth, and is now all around us everyday in many different forms. Because of our past actions, we need to make actions now to ensure this lead that is out in our society does not continue to harm people. There is no way to gather it all up and put it back where it came from, so better management needs to take place. 

It is important to remember that lead can play an important role in our society if it is managed properly. Lead can and should still be used in many of the products and services our society needs on a daily basis such as the automobile, sports equipment, building materials, explosives, an agent for dyes, and x-ray shields. Pb just needs to be banned from being used in anything a person could possibly potential ingest. Lead in the drinking water of Flint Michigan shows that it is a recurring problem in our nation that hasn’t fully gone away, even in the year 2019. Lead in the drinking water poses a threat to unborn babies, who don’t have a say in their future, and are born into the world with problems. This doesn’t give these children a fair shot at living a life to their full potential. Lead can harm wildlife, affecting biodiversity and our world’s overall health. Lead is a prevalent and unavoidable metal used in many industries in the United States, however, there needs to be much stricter regulation regarding human health as well as more public awareness about the dangers of Lead.