Move over, Flint: Older cities have even worse lead problems By St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.10.16 Word Count 611 Level 850L Jaylen Smith, 4, of Flint, Michigan, waits in line with his father, Keith Sanders, to have blood samples taken to be tested for lead on Jan. 23, 2016, at the Masonic Temple in downtown Flint. Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press/TNS ST. LOUIS, Mo. — In Flint, Michigan, lead was found in the water that people drink, wash and cook with. People across the United States are furious about the discovery. However, Flint is not the only city with lead problems. Many older cities have had more serious problems with lead. At least 3,300 children in St. Louis, Missouri, have toxic levels of lead in their blood. High levels of lead can lead to decreased intelligence, learning problems, stunted growth and other health problems. The problem is not in the tap water. It is in old houses with lead paint. Children who are exposed to the paint can get sick. “I hate lead because there’s nothing good about it,” said Dr. Andrew White. He is a professor of children's medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. He said there is no way to reverse severe lead poisoning. Dangerous Neighborhoods This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. In Flint, doctors raised concerns when the number of children showing high lead levels doubled. This happened after the city changed where it got its tap water from. It switched its water service from Detroit's water system to the Flint River. The change caused lead in old pipes to get into the water. Officials have taken steps to fix Flint's lead problem. Now, experts say, the number of children in Flint with high lead levels has gone down some. It has dropped back to 2 percent, or 2 in every 100 children. In St. Louis, nearly 1 in 10 children tested in 2014 had lead levels that were too high. In some neighborhoods, 2 in 10 children did. The problem was most severe among children age 6 and younger. Other cities with older homes struggle with the same problem. Children in Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit also showed high lead levels in their blood. Lead Paint Banned In 1978 Almost 9 out of 10 homes in St. Louis were built before 1978. That is when lead paint was no longer allowed. Even if homes are repainted, the danger from lead cannot be eliminated. Disturbing walls and windows can scatter paint chips and dust. The materials can then be eaten or breathed in by children. While lead is dangerous at any age, it is especially dangerous for young children. Lead poisoning reached high levels across the country in the 1970s. At the time, gasoline and paint still contained lead. By the late 1990s, there was a big push to clean up the leftover lead in houses and soil. In 2012, the national government said even lower levels of lead could be dangerous. Scientists had realized that children can be harmed from even small amounts of lead. Hazard Is Hard To Eliminate Lead poisoning can be difficult to notice. That is why doctors say yearly screenings are necessary. Doctors want to make sure children don't develop high levels of lead in their blood, said Julie Weber. She is head of a poison center at a children's hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. The center receives up to 70 calls a year from people who have questions about lead. People who are concerned about the lead problem were upset when the Heavy Metal Project ended. The project tested the homes of women in St. Louis who were going to have a baby. It looked for lead dangers and fixed them before the babies were born. The project was successful at preventing lead poisoning in some babies. One of the people who worked on the project was Dr. Daniel Berg. He said that programs to prevent lead poisoning in babies are very important. Without them, he said, lead poisoning is almost impossible to get rid of. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
