Each number wasn’t just a number-it was a child. This was about research, data and evidence. Fortunately, I quickly realized this doesn’t have anything to do with me.” “I think, especially so many women, we often talk about imposter syndrome. I began to second guess myself,” she recalled. I shared the research that our kids are in harm’s way and I demanded action.”Īfter her press conference, state officials accused her of “slicing and dicing” data and “causing near hysteria.” They claimed her data set differed from theirs. “I literally walked out of my clinic with my white coat on and stood up in one of our hospital conference rooms where we usually have resident lectures. “I did something most doctors and scientists don’t usually do,” said Hanna-Attisha. She knew she couldn’t afford to wait to present her research in an academic journal because the publishing process was too long.Įven though the Flint Water Crisis is over, Hanna-Attisha said residents feel betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect them. Disadvantaged areas had the greatest increases in blood lead levels. She reviewed blood for children younger than age five before and after Flint’s water source change and found that area kids’ blood lead levels were higher after the change. “I quickly conducted the research to see if there was more lead in the bodies of our children.”
“I knew that if I was going to make a difference, I would need science, data and facts in my pocket,” Hanna-Attisha said. In turn, these result in lower IQ, decreased ability to pay attention and underperformance in school. Lead exposure can cause serious harm to children’s health, including damage to the brain and nervous system, delayed growth and development, and learning and behavior problems. Once her friend tipped her off about lead in the water, she had to act because there is no safe amount of lead for kids. In 2014, Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint RiverĪt first, Hanna-Attisha assured her patients the water was safe because “there are people who wake up every day-who our tax dollars support-to make sure that when I turn on my tap in Flint or Bethesda or wherever I am, that my water is safe.” Her opinion soon changed. The disease causes a serious form of pneumonia. In addition, the switch also led to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed 12 people. After the change, residents began to raise concerns about the water’s color, odor and taste. Now, 69 percent of Flint’s children under age five live in poverty.ĭuring a budget crisis in 2014, the city switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Like so many other post-industrial towns across America, the city suffered from decades of disinvestment and population loss. Thanks to the auto industry, Flint was once home to a thriving middle class.
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“I became really consumed with what was happening with my Flint kids and how to best protect them.” “When I heard about lead, my life changed,” said Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and founder and director of the Michigan State University-Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, during a recent NIMH Director’s Innovation Speaker Series.
Her pal, a drinking water expert, told her the tap water in Flint wasn’t treated properly and probably contained lead. Mona Hanna-Attisha was drinking a glass of wine with a high school friend in Flint, Mich.