In the summer of 2014, Lee-Anne Walters — a mother of four in Flint, Michigan — noticed something strange. Guests in her swimming pool developed “scabies-like” rashes. Her family’s hair was thinning and falling out. One of her 4-year-old twin sons, Gavin, was not growing. He developed speech problems. Her husband developed abscesses.
There were “all these different things,” but “we weren’t putting it together,” she said.
By fall, when water in her faucet began running yellow and brown, Walters knew: The water wasn’t safe.
Though it wouldn’t be confirmed until much later, she was right. The city’s water was heavily contaminated by lead, which studies have linked to chronic and irreversible health problems, especially for children, including learning disabilities, mental retardation, stunted growth, seizures and even death. Read more…
More about Science, U.S., Us World, Us, and U.S. World
