Clean Up Lead Before It Wrecks More American Lives

When I was a kid, my dad half-joked that the Roman Empire fell because the Romans used lead to make their pipes, thus poisoning their drinking water supply. Even at age 7, I found that one hard to believe. But maybe, in some crucial ways, my dad was on to something. Strong evidence shows that lead is a uniquely toxic substance that can wreak permanent and devastating changes on both the human brain and a human life. Lead is also still ubiquitous in the U.S.

Like the Romans, the U.S. uses lead to supply water -- about a third of all U.S. water systems use lead pipes. And until just a few years ago, plumbing fixtures containing as much as 8% lead could be sold as “lead-free.” When those pipes become corroded, as they often do, people start consuming lead. And don’t be misled by the photos of brownish-yellow water coming out of pipes in the famously lead-contaminated city of Flint, Michigan -- lead in drinking water is generally colorless, tasteless and odorless.