Flint Water Crisis

Nine former officials who served in the Michigan, US and the state’s former governor Rick Snyder were recently charged in connection with a criminal investigation into the Flint Water crisis.

Flint Water Crisis

The Flint Water Crisis is an ongoing investigation on public health crisis. The issue began when the City of Flint in the state of Michigan shifted its water supply from Lake Huron to Flint river. The city has a population of 100,000 people. The shift caused water distribution pipes to corrode. This resulted in leaching of lead and other contaminants into the municipal drinking water. The city suffered from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease due to the leaching of lead. This is referred to as Flint Water crisis.

The main reason behind crisis is that the officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water.

Legionnaires’ disease

The disease is a serious type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. According to US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, people get sick from the disease if they breathe or accidentally swallow the bacteria containing water. There are no vaccines available for the disease. The disease can be prevented by good maintenance of water systems.

State Emergency due to Flint Water Crisis

The outbreak of the disease was very serious that the State of Michigan declared a state of emergency in 2016. The residents were advised not to drink municipal tap water unless it was filtered.

Flint river

The Flint river is also called the Thronateeska river.

Lead Poisoning

It is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead. Lead poisoning causes almost 10% of intellectual disability and can result in behavioural problems. Pre-industrial human Blood Lead Level are estimated to have 0.016 micro grams of lead per deci-litres. This increased from 0.8 to 3.2 micro grams per deci litres. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 10 micro grams per deci litres of lead in blood level as a level of concern.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2021