High Lead Levels Were Detected in Nearly
400 Flint Homes, and There May Be More


These 398 properties in Flint, Mich., registered high
levels of lead in tests of their drinking water. The amount
of lead exceeded 15 parts per billion, the federal threshold
for drinking water. Not all properties have been tested,
and there are probably more with unsafe levels of lead.

Some of these samples were taken in testing conducted by the city or state from July 2014 to January 2016. Other samples were analyzed by researchers at Virginia Tech beginning in August 2015. More than 90 of the homes on the map had lead levels higher than 100 parts per billion.

One of the largest concerns is that many Flint children were found to have high levels of lead in their blood. The city has more than 8,000 children under age 6, a group that is particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead poisoning, because it affects brain development.

Even small amounts of lead can cause lasting health and developmental problems. Lead should not be detectable in the body, according to Brenda Eskenazi, a professor of public health at the University of California, Berkeley. Lead poisoning causes “poorer cognition, attention disorders and, at higher doses, seizures, coma and death,” Dr. Eskenazi said.

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