For over a century, The Rockefeller Foundation has worked on initiatives promoting greater social equity in the United States and around the world. As part of this commitment, we collaborate with partners and grantees to tackle persistent obstacles that limit the ability of societies to achieve better outcomes. One such challenge in the United States has been the presence of lead in drinking water.

The adverse consequences of lead exposure have been well-documented, particularly its neurological effects in young children. Lead is more likely to be present in regions with aging infrastructure, cities experiencing industrial decline and towns in close proximity to old lead smelting plants. In the United States, many of the most affected locations are in the Rust Belt region.

In regions where lead is more prevalent, the social stratification of lead exposure reveals a strong case of environmental and social injustice, where low-income and minority communities are more likely to be affected. In particular, Black children have been the most afflicted demographic, for decades they have been the demographic with the highest blood lead levels among American children.

Researchers estimated Black children to be 2.8 times more likely than White and Hispanic children to present blood lead levels above 5 ug/dL and on average Black children have higher blood lead levels compared to their White and Hispanic peers (2.95 ug/dL vs 1.89 ug/dL).

We cannot dismiss sociological explanations that reinforce the difference in lead exposure, such as housing policies and public institutional disinvestment in neighborhoods segregating low-income and minority residents. The 2014 water crisis in Flint was an example of this, affecting a city where nearly 60% of its residents are Black.

Read the full article about lead-free water by Sue Marquez at The Rockefeller Foundation.