Willie Wilson: Chicagoans cannot wait 50 years for clean water
We know that structures built before 1986 have service lines that allow lead to leach into the drinking water. Chicago has over 400,000 lead service lines. The majority are located in Black and brown communities. Health experts agree there is no safe level of lead exposure. Exposure to lead can cause cognitive damage, developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral problems in children. Could this be a factor contributing to Black and brown children being overrepresented in special education classes and the prison system? Children's exposure to small amounts of lead-tainted water causes them to appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable. Higher levels of lead exposure may cause children to have problems with learning and reading.
Last year, a study published in JAMA Pediatrics estimated 68% of children younger than 6 years old in Chicago are exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water, with 19% of affected children using unfiltered tap water as their primary drinking water source.
Elected leaders should be held accountable for lead in tap water. The failure to move with urgency in replacing lead service lines will place children and adults at greater risk of drinking lead-tainted water. The Chicago Housing Authority was ordered to pay $24 million in a lead paint poisoning case that affected two young children. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health in 2023, about 3,200 children tested positive for elevated blood lead levels.
Preventing residents from consuming toxic water will reduce health costs and a potential public health crisis. Why would government leaders knowingly allow residents to be poisoned by contaminated water? This was the case in the city of Flint, Michigan, where the drinking water became contaminated with lead because of a change in the water source.
WBEZ-FM 91.5 reports that the federal rule requires Chicago to replace nearly 20,000 lead pipes a year beginning in 2027 — more than double the speed of the city's current plan. Among the cities with the highest number of lead service lines, only Chicago has yet to adopt the federal deadline.
Clean water is essential to life; without it, we cannot survive. The water we drink helps regulate body temperature, aids in digestion, carries nutrients to cells, flushes out waste, enhances our skin and much more. It is important that residents have confidence in water from the tap.
A 2023 Gallup poll found 56% of Americans overall said they worry 'a great deal' about pollution of drinking water. However, that sentiment was expressed by 76% of Black adults and 70% of Hispanic adults, compared with less than half (48%) of white adults. The bottled water industry in 2016 surpassed soft drinks to become the most consumed beverage in the country.
'Bottled water in the U.S. has been found to be no safer than tap water on average, contains higher levels of microplastics, is less strictly regulated and consumers are much less likely to find out if contamination does occur,' a 2023 research paper published in WIREs Water noted. Moreover, distrust in the quality of public tap water is driving the growth of bottled water.
The following are suggestions to ensure clean and safe drinking water for all residents:
Elected leaders should consider children and the most vulnerable when urging a delay to remove lead service lines from homes. Long-term exposure to lead can contribute to an increased risk of kidney, testicular and potentially other cancers. Also, lead exposure can lead to high blood pressure and reproductive problems.
Clean water is a universal human right. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly formally recognized the right to safe and clean drinking water as a right inextricably linked to the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. The U.N. statement should be shared with elected leaders in Illinois.
We cannot wait another 50 years to remove all lead service lines in Chicago. Every day we delay, the potential grows for more children to be poisoned by lead from their drinking water.
I write this commentary to make those comfortable with allowing residents to drink lead-tainted water uncomfortable.
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