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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday March 23 2017, @09:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the there-are-acceptable-levels-of-lead-poisoning? dept.

Some neighborhoods in California are experiencing levels of lead that exceed those measured in Flint, Michigan:

Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows.

The data shows how lead poisoning affects even a state known for its environmental advocacy, with high rates of childhood exposure found in a swath of the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles. And the figures show that, despite national strides in eliminating lead-based products, hazards remain in areas far from the Rust Belt or East Coast regions filled with old housing and legacy industry.

In one central Fresno zip code, 13.6 percent of blood tests on children under six years old came back high for lead. That compares to 5 percent across the city of Flint during its recent water contamination crisis. In all, Reuters found at least 29 Golden State neighborhoods where children had elevated lead tests at rates at least as high as in Flint.

Interactive map of U.S. lead hotspots.


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  • (Score: 2) by shortscreen on Friday March 24 2017, @01:48AM (3 children)

    by shortscreen (2252) on Friday March 24 2017, @01:48AM (#483471) Journal

    Digging up the street to replace old pipes costs money. Same with bottled water. Generally, running your tap water through a filter would be a lot more cost effective, since you can get 1,000 gallons or so before you have to replace filter cartridges. I'm not sure how well these setups would handle significant lead contamination but I imagine it would be better than nothing...?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:21AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:21AM (#483497)

    The Brita filter is the kind of thing that someone who already has good quality water will afford/think to buy. And they have better access to bulk discounts through their collection of Costco, Amazon, etc. memberships.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:57AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @04:57AM (#483513)

    Charcoal does nothing for lead. It really does nothing for much of anything except chlorine. For this kind of thing you'd need a rather expensive reverse osmosis setup.