The Flint Michigan water crisis is bringing to the forefront something we rarely think about - the effect of lead on the human body. It almost seems anachronistic these days. Humans have known about the problems of lead poisoning
for centuries, way longer than we've understood germs, or the basic structure of the solar system. It's amazing that despite knowing the problems for over a millennium that we done so little to eliminate its dangers from our lives, simply because it is so useful. We used lead in paint to brighten the colors and lead in gasoline to enhance the octane ratings. We finally smartened up and eliminated lead from paint in 1978 and from gasoline in 1985.
That's why it's so maddening that due to cutting corners to save on costs, the people of Flint, Michigan have been poisoned by their elected (and appointed) leaders. It's worse than that, though.
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