study
Negative consequences of the water crisis in the US city of Flint for children
Flint had disconnected itself from the supply network and obtained its water from the Flint River (symbolic image). photo
© Lukas Schulze/dpa
About ten years ago, a water crisis in Flint made headlines around the world. Now scientists have examined how it affected the US city’s schoolchildren.
Around ten years after the drinking water was contaminated A study in Flint shows numerous negative effects of the crisis on school children in the city in the US state of Michigan. Among other things, performance in mathematics has declined in many cases and more children need support because of mental, psychological or physical problems, writes a group led by Sam Trejo from Princeton University (US state of New Jersey) in the journal “Science Advances”.
“Our results demonstrate the widespread negative effects of the crisis on children and suggest that existing estimates may significantly underestimate the societal costs of the crisis.”
Water contained lead and iron – Obama declared an emergency
In 2014, Flint, a city with around 80,000 inhabitants, disconnected itself from the supply network of the northwestern metropolis of Detroit largely for cost reasons and then drew its water from the Flint River. However, this water was not purified properly, so it contained, among other things, lead and iron.
In 2016, then US President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency. The supply is now running again via the Detroit system and the water is considered clean again – but the process took many years.
The scientists now examined education data from Flint and comparable school districts to determine the impact of the water crisis on school children. They found a decline in math performance – particularly among younger school children and children from poorer households – and an increase in children, particularly boys, who need support for mental, psychological or physical problems.
General circumstances also caused the crisis
The scientists write that it is probably not just lead poisoning that is the cause, but also the general circumstances surrounding the crisis in the city and how the children experienced it.
In Germany, stricter rules for drinking water from the tap only came into force last year. This involves, among other things, lower limit values for certain heavy metals, replacing old lead pipes and testing for more pollutants.