Tag Archives: lead

Parents face critical trade-off in deciding between tap, bottled water

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Worries about the safety of the nation’s tap water were already a reality before the 2014 lead-contamination crisis in Flint, Mich.

Exposure to lead poses serious health risks to children. And while research shows blood lead levels have decreased substantially over the past 40 years in response to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and Lead and Copper Rule, concerns about corrosion from aging lead service lines and lead pipes in older homes have fueled questions about water quality in communities nationwide. Continue reading →

Mary Otto, a Washington, D.C.-based freelancer, is AHCJ's topic leader on oral health and the author of "Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America." She can be reached at mary@healthjournalism.org.

Some help with the challenges of tracking down lead data

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Lead contamination continues to make headlines more than a year after the Flint municipal lead crisis in Michigan hit the national news. The public outcry over the government’s response to dealing with the Detroit suburb’s lead-contaminated water spurred reporters across the country to revisit lead issues for their audiences.

The problem goes beyond lead-tainted pipes that were contamination source in Flint. Continue reading →

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

Reporting team tackles lead scourge in Philly

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Photo: Jessica GriffinMore than 90 percent of the houses in Philadelphia were built before the 1978 lead paint ban. One here on Bonitz Street belonged to a family featured the Philadelphia Daily News’ project.

Photo: Jessica GriffinMore than 90 percent of the houses in Philadelphia were built before the 1978 lead paint ban. One, on Bonitz Street, belonged to a family featured in the project.

Reading through a recent story in the Philadelphia Daily News on lead plaguing the city’s houses, I realized the story had the same hard-driving investigative feel that I had read before.

The story, “Philly’s shame: City ignores thousands of poisoned kids,” paints a compelling multimedia picture of the historic city and the challenges it faces dealing with older homes shedding lead-tainted paint. Continue reading →

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

Lead crisis shifts as infrastructure crumbles, experts say

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A water crisis brewing in Flint, Mich., for nearly two years exposed children and others to lead from contaminated water. It also exposed health disparities from infrastructure. Glass of Water via photopin (license)

Photo: Glass of Water via Flickr

A year after the Flint water crisis made national waves, the legacy of lead continues to draw attention as reporters follow up on the evolving public health concern.

What was once a public battle over perception as manufacturers’ inundated products with lead – from gasoline to painted cribs, toys and houses – has shifted to a more subtle, but no less serious disaster, according to public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner. Continue reading →

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

AHCJ webcast to offer wider look at lead contamination crisis

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Photo: University of California PressNew York-based public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, authors of “Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America's Children,” will provide perspective on the nation’s ongoing lead epidemic in a Nov. 4 webcast for AHCJ members.

Photo: University of California PressNew York-based public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner will provide perspective on the nation’s ongoing lead epidemic in a Nov. 4 webcast for AHCJ members.

At first, the headlines focused on Flint, Mich., but soon other communities around the country were testing their water for lead contamination too. Then residents at a public housing complex near Chicago found themselves displaced along with students at a nearby elementary school after detection of hazardous levels of lead in the soil.

So goes the nation’s ongoing battle over lead poisoning.

Join us for an AHCJ member webcast on Friday, Nov. 4, that may reframe your coverage of lead and its long-term impact on health. The one-hour event, “Long View on Lead: Covering the Crisis From Flint & Beyond,” will feature public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, authors of “Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America’s Children.” Continue reading →

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.