Flint's tainted water may have led to rashes and hair loss, investigation finds

Results come from water sampled during time when Flint’s
supply was taken from source later deemed to be corroding
pipes and leaching lead

Ryan Felton in Detroit
Tuesday 23 August 2016 20.14 BST

A months-long government investigation bolsters claims of residents in Flint, Michigan, that the city’s lead-tainted water led to a breakout of rashes and hair loss for residents.

Though the investigation stopped short of definitively linking the symptoms to the water source, it found based on water tests and surveys of medical diagnoses that resident concerns were valid.

The investigation by federal and state agencies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the US and Michigan departments of health and human services, analyzed water quality data from April 2014 to October 2015, the time frame when Flint’s water supply was sourced from the Flint river, a water source later deemed to be corroding pipes and leaching lead into the water. From the outset, residents raised concerns that the new water source was causing a spate of rashes and hair loss.

“The rashes Flint residents have reported are of great concern to the community and to all of us who are working to improve health in the city,” said Dr Nicole Lurie, the federal department of health and human services assistant secretary for preparedness and response, in a statement on Tuesday.

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