RTFri, 21 Sep 2018 12:05 UTC
© Guillermo Granja
More than half of Detroit public schools have tested positive for high levels of lead and copper after their drinking water was inspected over safety concerns.Elevated levels of lead and copper were detected in the water of 57 schools,
according to the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). The body is still awaiting results for 27 more schools.
Michigan's largest school district initiated the widespread tests after a previous examination last year uncovered high elevations of lead and/or copper in 16 of 24 schools. Drinking water was turned off in the affected schools and water coolers and bottled water was supplied.
"This (testing) was not required by federal, state, or city law," the DPSCD said. "This testing, unlike the previous testing in 2016, evaluated all water sources from sinks to drinking fountains."
District officials have decided that no students at Detroit's 106 public schools should be subjected to drinking mains water until a solution can be found and the water is declared safe. The district is
spending $200,000 on bottled water and water coolers for the next several months, Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said.
No explanation for the high levels of the properties has been given as yet but the city's water department stated that the issues are not affecting the rest of the city and pointed the finger of blame at the schools' aging plumbing systems.
Lead and copper can enter drinking water when plumbing pipes corrode. Young children are particularly vulnerable to to the toxic effects of lead which can affect the development of the brain and nervous system. Copper consumption can also cause adverse health effects and has been associated with liver damage and kidney disease.
Comment: With toxic levels of lead comes
toxic levels of violence and neurological disorders:
[L]ead is a double whammy: It impairs specific parts of the brain responsible for executive functions and it impairs the communication channels between these parts of the brain. For children like the ones in the Cincinnati study, who were mostly inner-city kids with plenty of strikes against them already, lead exposure was, in Cecil's words, an "additional kick in the gut." And one more thing: Although both sexes are affected by lead, the neurological impact turns out to be greater among boys than girls.
Other recent studies link even minuscule blood lead levels with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Even at concentrations well below those usually considered safe - levels still common today - lead increases the odds of kids developing ADHD.
Children ingesting even the tiniest amounts of lead at school are being set up for failure. And, according to recent
reports, this problem is only growing across the United States. Studies of 34 states suggest that at least 3,810 neighborhoods have lead levels double those in Flint, Michigan, while half of those sites have levels
four times as high.
Comment: With toxic levels of lead comes toxic levels of violence and neurological disorders: Children ingesting even the tiniest amounts of lead at school are being set up for failure. And, according to recent reports, this problem is only growing across the United States. Studies of 34 states suggest that at least 3,810 neighborhoods have lead levels double those in Flint, Michigan, while half of those sites have levels four times as high.