Health News Week #4
Different parts of the United States still struggle to find and meet the rules for safe drinking water. Since 1982 between 3-10% of our water systems are in violation of safe drinking water. In 2015 as many as 21 million Americans had some exposure to unsafe drinking water. We saw this impact during the Flint water crisis in Michigan in 2015 with high levels of lead. Researchers found that those living in rural areas and low-income populations had the highest exposures and water systems were most likely to violate the federal standards. The E.P.A is working on improving the quality and declared “war on lead”.
I was surprised when I read this article. 3% doesn't seem that bad initially, but the US is very large so 3-10% actually amounts to some 20 million people. It's also sad that it took a crisis like Flint to open the nation's eyes about the quality of our drinking water and the negative effects that occur with contaminated water.
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