Archive: 2021

Protecting Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence

Leave a Comment

More than 135 mayors and local officials in Canada and the United States are working together to protect and restore the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.  Listen to the interview.

Belleville, ON, Canada / Quinte News
Mary Thomas
Nov 27, 2021 | 6:35 AM

 

New federal money helps Duluth tackle water issues, mayor says

Leave a Comment

By:  Star Tribune – DULUTH — Duluth Mayor Emily Larson wants to make the most of the billions of dollars Minnesota is expected to get to address water infrastructure and other issues as part of the new federal money headed to the state.  Read the article.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Applauds Passage of the Infrastructure Bill

Leave a Comment

By wwdmag.com | The Build Back Better legislation currently provides funding for key priorities for Great Lakes cities With the successful passage of the Infrastructure bill, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is now urging Congress to take immediate action on the Build Back Better reconciliation package. “While the infrastructure bill will greatly help… Read full story

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide Wisconsin with $1 Billion in needed resilience, water equity and infrastructure assistance

Leave a Comment

CHICAGO – Wisconsin will see $1 billion in water infrastructure, resiliency and water equity funding, as part of the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the largest long-term investment in U.S. infrastructure in nearly a century.  Read article.

Nationwide tests find lead in more than half of U.S. children

Leave a Comment

BY
HANNAH NORTHEY | 09/29/2021 01:29 PM EDT

This 2016 file photo shows signs around the West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago, Ind. The mayor ordered the evacuation of the 40-year-old public housing complex because of severe lead contamination.John J. Watkins/The Times via AP, File

GREENWIRE | A first-of-its-kind national study found more than half the children tested had detectable levels of lead in their blood, a scourge researchers say is tied to contaminated paint, water pipes and soil in poverty-stricken neighborhoods.

An investigation published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics earlier this week revealed the detectable lead levels in more than half of the 1 million children under 6 years old who received blood tests in recent years from Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest clinical laboratories operating in the U.S.

Detectable levels of lead were significantly increased in children with public insurance and those living in communities with pre-1950s housing and high poverty rates.

The study also found trends based on ZIP codes and race, with almost 58 percent of children in predominantly Black neighborhoods and 56 percent of children in predominantly Hispanic areas showing detectable lead levels, compared with 49 percent of children in white neighborhoods. But authors also found the associations between lead exposure and elevated levels in children living in ZIP codes with predominantly Black or Hispanic and Latino neighborhoods were “not consistent” and more research is needed.

“This study is one of the first I’m aware of that really looks [nationally at] detectable blood levels” and neighborhood factors such as poverty, said Marissa Hauptman, associate director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Center at the Boston Children’s Hospital, who co-authored the study.

Quest Diagnostics conducted the testing from Oct. 1, 2018, through Feb. 29, 2020, during which time the lab began reporting results with a detection threshold of 1 microgram of lead per deciliter of blood. According to the JAMA article, the month of February 2020 was chosen to eliminate the potential effects tied to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers then used mapping techniques and analyses to show the association between where a child lives and the risk of lead exposure. The insight is critical given that lead is a toxin that can have adverse health effects particularly in pregnant people, nursing mothers and children under age 6 whose bodies are still developing and growing rapidly. Even at low levels, lead exposure is shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention and academic achievement, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and exposure cannot be corrected.

The CDC currently identifies the “blood lead level of concern” as 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, which the agency says is higher than most children’s levels. The CDC says that value is based on the nation's population of children under 5 who are in the highest 2.5 percent of kids when tested for lead in their blood.

Hauptman said the findings demonstrate that the U.S. is still living with the effects of legacy lead and children are being exposed despite “tremendous progress” made in past decades toward eliminating lead from products like fuel; paint; and service lines carrying water to homes, schools and businesses.

While the study did not analyze the sources of exposure, Hauptman said a large body of research and public policy work shows children are primarily exposed to lead through paint, contaminated soil and drinking water.

According to the article, houses built before the 1950s were specifically analyzed because although the production of lead-based paint was banned nationally in 1978, some cities had enacted legislation to bar the material as early as the 1950s. Overall, paint produced after the 1950s tended to have lower levels of lead, researchers said.

Going forward, Hauptman said researchers need to focus on how to prevent lead from making its way into housing stock, fuel and water to protect children. The study also called for more analysis to understand the relationship between exposure in children and race.

Coastal damage along Lake Michigan will cost Illinois communities over $600 million to fix thanks to climate change

Leave a Comment

July 17, 2021 – WBBM 780 News Radio:  A survey of 12 Illinois cities, villages, and other jurisdictions along Lake Michigan showed that coastal damage from climate change will cost at least $608 million over the next five years.  Listen to the broadcast.