Abstract
In Flint; MI; USA; a public health crisis resulted from the switching of the water supply from Lake Huron to a more corrosive source from the Flint River in April 2014; which caused lead to leach from water lines. Between 2010 and 2015; Flint area children’s average blood lead patterns display consistent peaks in the third quarter of the year. The third quarter blood lead peaks displayed a declining trend between 2010 and 2013; then rose abruptly between the third quarters of 2013 from 3.6% blood lead levels ≥5 µg/dL to a peak of about 7% in the third quarter of 2014; an increase of approximately 50%. The percentage of blood lead level ≥5 µg/dL in the first quarter of 2015 then dropped to 2.3%; which was the same percentage as the first quarter of 2014 (prior to the Flint River water source change). The Flint quarterly blood lead level peak then rose to about 6% blood lead levels ≥ 5 µg/dL in the third quarter of 2015; and then declined to about 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015. Soil lead data collected by Edible Flint food collaborative reveal generally higher soil lead values in the metropolitan center for Flint; with lower values in the outskirts of the city. The questions that are not being asked is why did children’s blood lead levels display a seasonal blood lead pattern before the introduction of the new water supply in Flint; and what are the implications of these seasonal blood lead patterns? Based upon previous findings in Detroit and other North American cities we infer that resuspension to the air of lead in the form of dust from lead contaminated soils in Flint appears to be a persistent contribution to lead exposure of Flint children even before the change in the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River.
Highlights
Lead is a pernicious and widespread pollutant, with a very clear and incontrovertible link between exposure and human disease
A comparison of soil lead values and the distribution network for City of Flint water reveals a strong overlap between neighborhoods with high soil lead and city water systems, indicating that both potential sources of exposure need to be taken into account when considering public health risks for lead in this context
The inner city values were four times higher than those in the outskirts, indicating that elevated soil lead does exist in Flint and that this can be a reservoir for high air lead loading during seasonal resuspension events
Summary
Lead is a pernicious and widespread pollutant, with a very clear and incontrovertible link between exposure and human disease. The amount of lead contamination in the soil of inner city areas is proportional to historical traffic flow volumes during the period when lead was used in gasoline [16]. This reservoir of highly bioaccessible lead in urban soil and dust derived from that soil is concentrated in the top 20–30 cm of the surface soil [17] where it is available to be resuspended to the air in the dry summer periods.
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