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Lead Crisis Case Study

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Lead Crisis Case Study
Harold Harrington, a resident of the town of Flint, Michigan US, has discovered that the water coming through his taps been contaminated by lead. The level of lead coming through his pipes was 10 times above the point at which the federal government states action should be taken. As a result, Harrington believes that the lead contamination of the water might be the reason his dog got severely ill and had to be euthanized. He describes how him and his wife, who’s hair had started to fall out for no apparent reason, had been splitting four pots of coffee made with that water each day, not knowing that the boiling water was actually increasing the concentration of lead in the water. In October, the state confirmed that the river water was corroding pipes, discharging lead into …show more content…
As a safety measure, the city added anti-corrosion phosphates to the supply in order to build up a protective film inside the decayed pipes and keep the lead from seeping out, and hence decreasing the level of lead in the water. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been blamed for making a mess of the lead crisis. Michigan Governor’s office was informed in March about the Legionnaire’s disease outbreak, which sickened more than 80 people and killed 10 in flint, was linked to river water. However, this information wasn't made public for months and hence no one took precautions. Now, Harrington, plans to have a liver biopsy to see how much lead he may have absorbed, and determine if he has been poisoned by the lead contamination of water.

The Flint water crisis are a result of Flint switching from purchasing treated Lake Huron water

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