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href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/3000-US-Cities-Have-Lead-Poisoning-Rates-Higher-Than-Flints-20161221-0007.html">http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/3000-US-Cities-Have-Lead-Poisoning-Rates-Higher-Than-Flints-20161221-0007.html</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">3,000 US Cities Have Lead Poisoning Rates
Higher Than Flint’s</h1>
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<p>December 21, 2016<br>
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<p>As news of <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Flint-Officials-Criminally-Charged-in-Water-Crisis-20161220-0015.html"
target="_blank">criminal charges</a> against the
architects of the poisoning of Flint’s water system
broke on Tuesday, a new report shows that almost 3, 000
communities across the U.S. have lead poisoning rates
higher than the beleaguered Michigan city, reflecting
the devastating impacts of 40 years of neo-liberal
neglect.</p>
<p>The Reuters report, called Off The Charts, found 3,000
areas “with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at
least double those in Flint during the peak of that
city’s contamination crisis,” with public health records
in a third of those communities showing rates at least
four times higher.</p>
<p>While the Flint crisis was created by the criminal
decision of a Republican appointed city manager to
switch that city’s water source to one known to pose a
threat to public safety, the lead poisoning crisis in
these other cities appears to be the result of a
bipartisan toxic neoliberal mix of neglected public
infrastructure, lack of enforcement of building
regulations, and decreased funding for public health
agencies.</p>
<p>The report shows that despite initially promising
attempts in the late 1970’s to not only ban lead-based
paints, but clean up housing, plumbing, and playgrounds
that used them, funding for those infrastructure
programs soon dried up, leaving thousands of children
vulnerable to the highly toxic substance.</p>
<p>The report suggests the problem is particularly dire in
the impoverished de-industrialized heartland of the
midwest, where racialized poverty remains a key
indicator of which communities are at higher risk.</p>
<p>For example, in one east Cleveland, Ohio neighborhood,
where almost 50 percent of the residents live in
poverty, “nearly half of kids tested in the last decade
had elevated lead levels.” Similarly, in 49 different
communities in Pennsylvania, the former steel capital of
the U.S., “at least 40 percent of children tested had
high lead levels.”</p>
<p>The effects of elevated lead levels are particularly
devastating on young children, with the poison affecting
brain development, something which the study says has
been exacerbated by the underfunding of public health
programs which could help diagnose and treat children in
the early stages.</p>
<p>Indeed in Indiana, where Vice President-elect Mike
Pence was governor, a successful testing program has all
but ended because “the funding dried up,” according to
former public health program director Sue Taylor.</p>
<p>The Reuters report highlighted the “vicious cycle” of
lead poisoning, where “cognitive deficits breed poor
school performance, high dropout rates, few job
opportunities, and brushes with the law.”</p>
<p>Indeed the report revealed a direct connection between
lead poisoning caused by lack of enforcement of building
standards, and one of the most high-profile police
murders in recent years.</p>
<p>Little known to many, before Freddie Gray was murdered
by Baltimore police in 2015, he and his family won an
out of court settlement against their landlord who had
failed to clean up the lead contamination in their
building. Court filings in that case revealed that Gray
suffered from health problems directly related to lead
exposure.</p>
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