usatoday | Now that the leaching of poisonous lead into the tap water of Flint, Mich., has been declared a national emergency, it might be time to dial back the panic just a notch (or two).
Flint's 8,000 children have not had their lives destroyed. Jesse Jackson can roll up his crime tape. Michael Moore can go back to promoting his latest film. Taken as a whole, in fact, Flint's kids are better off than the previous generations of Michigander kids in at least one important way. Even after Flint’s disaster, the city’s children have far less lead in their blood than their parents or grandparents did at the same age.
That's of little comfort, of course, to those exposed to higher levels than they should have been because of a nearly bankrupt local government, a scientifically incompetent city water utility, indifferent Michigan environmental regulators and a bumbling federal Environmental Protection Agency. And any lead has a long-terminsidious health impact, even after it has left the blood. But amid the furor, it's important to take a deep breath and put the exposure levels in context.
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