On Thursday, doctors advised the authorities to halt the use of water from the Flint River in Michigan upon discovering toxic levels of lead in the blood of the children in the area, which raises further issues towards where the supply of water comes from.
"It's our professional obligation to care for the children of Flint if we know something," according to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, lead researcher at Flint's Hurley Medical Center, Associated Press reported. "Lead poisoning is irreversible. This is not what our community needs. You have to err on the side of caution (and) educate the public."
State regulators still insist that the water taken in from the new source, Flint River, is safe despite reports that it releases lead from the old servicing pipes that brings water to thousands of residences in Flint.
People in the area have brought forward the issues of the water's taste, smell and appearance. Virginia Tech researchers took water samples from almost 300 homes. Twenty percent of these samples contained "serious" levels of lead which do not adhere to the legal limits set by the EPA, CityLab reported.
The city stands by its decision that Flint River "has no problem with cooperating in additional testing."
"We're working with utilities that had had no lead problem up until recently. As road salt use rose, it reached a trigger point," said Marc Edwards, lead hydrologist of Virginia Tech, Citylab added. The water from the river has become more corrosive resulting in damaged old lead pipes.
Melissa Mays, a resident of Flint, blames the city and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. "They're saying, 'Oh, it's not that bad.' They're trying to say it only affects a few people and it's their own problem. They're trying to shake off all responsibly," Mays said, according to Al Jazeera. "My tub is green because there's so much copper leaching into both of my bathtubs in my house ... and I'm just furious."
