Milwaukee Water Contamination News
The Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter and city leaders gathered on March 22, also known as World Water Day, to discuss the ongoing problem of lead lateral pipes in the Milwaukee area.
Bill Davis, director of the Sierra Club-John Muir Chapter organized the news conference which began at 12 p.m. in City Hall.
Dr. Jeanne Hewitt works with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Children’s Environmental Health Sciences Center. She detailed the dangers of drinking water contaminated with lead as well pharmaceuticals, nitrate, certain bacteria and other chemicals.
“Lead in fetuses and young kids has an impact on their cognitive development and can lead to decreased IQs,” Dr. Hewitt explained. “The CDC blood lead level of concern is now deemed five micrograms per deciliter. Before, it was ten [micrograms per deciliter].”
She added that lead poisoning can also cause low birth weights, adverse reproductive effects in men and women, depression and various behavioral problems, including criminal behavior. Brain damage caused by lead poisoning is almost impossible to reverse. Read More
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