Flint residents warned to stop drinking unfiltered water immediately.
Doctors from the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan released their findings from a water study and issued an
urgent warning for all residents:
Today at Hurley Medical Center, doctors warned the public that lead levels in Flint water are too high and many residents should stop drinking it immediately.
Hurley did their own study of Flint water. They have advised senior citizens, children, and pregnant women to stop drinking Flint water right now or they could face irreversible damage. This damage could include memory loss or lowered IQ.
Gulp. While the headlines specifically warned about the damage the high lead levels could do to children's health, they took it even further, warning all citizens to act now. Here is a transcribed portion of the statement from
Michigan doctors yesterday:
Good afternoon, we are all here as part of the greater Flint health coalition and our respective organizations. And we are here today because we have identified significant concerns about the quality of water in Flint, Michigan. Specifically lead and the exposure of infants, children, pregnant women and all other human beings to the amount of lead that is in the water. In this presentation you will hear that we have significant concerns about the water sampling method that was used. Our premise as health professionals is this—there is no amount of that is safe for humans to consume. Especially for young children, who are mostly water in body weight.
Emphasis added. While the urgent warnings are for infants, children, the elderly and pregnant women, they emphasized the dangerous lead levels are dangerous for all humans.
The Detroit Free Press Editorial Board unloaded on government officials:
If the number of Flint children with elevated blood-lead levels is indeed due to a change in that city's water supply, it's a shocking dereliction of duty -- a failure by government to protect its most vulnerable charges.
And government has to fix it.
Lead poisoning is irreversible, and it conveys a host of developmental problems for the children who suffer from it. That's a bleak diagnosis for Flint families.
The increasing lead levels and other water quality problems began when the city switched water sources:
But the current situation, researchers say, is caused by the natural corrosive properties of Flint River water; the water leaches lead from the city's aging infrastructure into the water that passes through it at a higher rate.
"What we found in our data is concerning," said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, program director for the pediatric residency at the Hurley Children’s Hospital at Hurley Medical Center in Flint. She also holds an appointment in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. "This is not something you mess around with."