Doctors urge Flint to stop using water from Flint River

This causes the treated water to leach lead from pipes and soldering.

“The other chemicals that where elevated known or unknown didn’t have such a research backing what that would do to people”, said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, from Hurley Children’s Hospital.

The CEO of the Mott Children’s Health Center joined other medical professionals to express concerns about data which showed lead levels have more than doubled in some neighborhoods since the city started tapping into the Flint River for water.

But Henderson said there are no plans to reconnect the city to Lake Huron water until the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline is completed some time in 2016.

In perhaps the most dramatic proof yet of the toxic impact of Flint’s decision to draw municipal water from the Flint River, a new study released today shows that the amount of lead found in the bloodstream of Flint children increased dramatically following the switch from the Detroit water system in 2014.

The state is wasting no time in taking issue with a study linking use of the Flint River as a drinking water source to elevated blood lead levels in children. In Flint’s highest risk ZIP codes, the change was even more surprising, she said – jumping from 2.5% of the children to 6.3%. About 4 percent of the later samples revealed elevated levels. Symptoms can include developmental delays, irritability and sluggishness, as well as gastrointestinal problems like poor appetite, abdominal pain, and vomiting.

A group of volunteer researchers from Virginia Tech University have been doing ongoing work on the safety of Flint drinking water.

Flint City Administrator Natasha Henderson said city officials are working with Flint’s medical community to ensure safe drinking water. The mayor is asking the state for $10 million in funds to replace lead water service lines.