{"id":1037,"date":"2017-09-24T12:06:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T16:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/l-stires.com\/thinking-slowly\/?p=1037"},"modified":"2017-09-29T17:37:22","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T21:37:22","slug":"documenting-the-flint-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/l-stires.com\/thinking-slowly\/documenting-the-flint-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Documenting the Flint Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>In April 2014, Flint, MI\u2019s state-appointed Emergency Manager<\/a> Darnell Earley made a decision to save $5 million by switching Flint, MI\u2019s water source from Lake Huron to the heavily polluted Flint River. High acidity in the river eroded the protective coating on the city\u2019s lead water pipes, introducing lead into the water supply. Lead is associated with a variety of health and behavioral problems<\/a>, including impaired growth, kidney damage, high blood pressure, lower intelligence and criminal behavior. Emails show that Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a former venture capitalist with an estimated net worth of $200 million, attempted to cover up the crisis for several months. It is difficult to determine what role the racial and socioeconomic composition of Flint<\/a>\u2014as opposed to Republican business values\u2014played in the origin of the crisis or the delay in addressing it. Flint is 53% Black<\/a> and 45% of its residents live below the poverty line.\n

New research demonstrates<\/a> some of the results of lead exposure for Flint\u2019s citizens. A paper by Drs. Daniel Grossman of the University of West Virginia and David Slusky of the University of Kansas looked at its consequences for fertility and fetal death rates. Dr. Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech\u2014who played an important role in documenting the lead levels<\/a> in Flint\u2014had previously found<\/a> decreases in fertility and increases in fetal deaths as a result of lead exposure through drinking water.<\/p>\n

The Flint water crisis can be seen as a natural experiment with tragic consequences. Their analysis is an interrupted time series design with multiple comparison groups<\/a>. The interruption occurred in April 2014, when Flint\u2019s water supply was contaminated. The researchers examined changes in several variables of interest in Flint from before to after that date, using Michigan\u2019s 15 other largest cities as comparison groups. Racial, socioeconomic and other demographic characteristics of the parents and children were statistically controlled. Here are the highlights:<\/p>\n