Flint Michigan lead in drinking water crisis

[elte]

"the two-way
Obama Declares State Of Emergency Over Flint's Contaminated Water
by CAMILA DOMONOSKE
January 16, 2016 • The water in Flint, Mich., is contaminated with dangerously high levels of lead. The president has now declared a state of emergency and authorized FEMA to provide assistance. " Http://www.npr.org/templates/search/inde...lint+water

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again.

[C C]

While lead poisoning justifiably garners panic-level attention in the context of today's sensitivities, it's rather amazing how the ancient Romans tolerated it during the course of their blissful biochemical ignorance. In recent years lead has been exonerated from having contributed heavily to the downfall of Rome, but it would still certainly explain some of the physiological and eccentric characteristics slash pathological behaviors and irrational decisions of some of its elite. Not to mention the role of heavy metal exposure in the psychology / behavior of a variety of later historical figures (both from work occupation / environment and prescribed medical treatments, as well as lingering lead utensils, drinking, and serving ware).

[elte]

Maybe that is a factor in the Flynn Effect.  I wonder how much more advanced society might have been if lead hadn't been tainting food so much up to the 20th century.  Some of the exploratory expeditions had lead-soldered cans even well into the 19th century.

[C C]

Maybe that is a factor in the Flynn Effect.  I wonder how much more advanced society might have been if lead hadn't been tainting food so much up to the 20th century.  Some of the exploratory expeditions had lead-soldered cans even well into the 19th century.

I completely forgot about the Franklin expedition that NOVA covered some years back. Some of the crew members that tried to escape / survive by land travel brought heavy items with them that were really useless and strength-draining. There was speculation among researchers back then that lead toxicity may have also contributed to their making those poor mental decisions. But strangely, now there are attempts to even acquit lead from being any factor in the doom of those 129 men. On the grounds that average people back in Britain routinely persevered through similar lead levels in their bodies:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nati...e16250599/

[elte]

I recall seeing that Nova episode as it was before the changeover to the digital over-the-air format, after which my television could no longer receive the PBS broadcast.  If I'm not mistaken, they were carrying heavy stones similar to how Scott did later in Antarctica.  Possibly for the Franklin expedition, the lead in the canned goods and food utensils cut their thinking edge just enough to put them at an insurmountable disadvantage.  The commoner in Britain at that time possibly rarely ate canned food because it was likely relatively pricy compared to other methods of food preservation.  However, even though they apparently used lead utensils,  an average lifestyle, either city or agrarian, probably required a lot less wit than the expedition needed.