Drinking lead can damage people's brains, but Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach opposes a plan to remove lead water pipes.

Drinking lead can damage people’s brains, but Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach opposes a plan to remove lead water pipes.

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In their letter, the attorneys general wrote, “[The plan] sets an almost impossible timeline, will cost billions and will infringe on the rights of the States and their residents – all for benefits that may be entirely speculative.”

Kobach repeated this nearly verbatim in a March 7 post on X (formerly Twitter).

Buttigieg responded by writing, “The benefit of not being lead poisoned is not speculative. It is enormous. And because lead poisoning leads to irreversible cognitive harm, massive economic loss, and even higher crime rates, this work represents one of the best returns on public investment ever observed.”

  • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
    0·
    6 months ago

    From what I have heard the inside of old lead water pipes is usually covered in several layers of calcium carbonate, at least in areas with hard water, these layers prevent the water from getting in contact with the lead. So if you live in an old house with lead pipes you do not need to panic. New lead pipes that lack this calcium carbonate layer are what is in fact dangerous to health and therefore should not be installed anymore.

    • maniclucky@lemmy.world
      0·
      6 months ago

      Can you promise that every internal surface is covered? Completely? And will remain so?

      Replacing all poisonous, permanently brain damaging lead pipes should be a no brainer (insert joke here about the no brains resisting it).

      • Nakedmole@lemmy.world
        0·
        6 months ago

        Can you promise that every internal surface is covered? Completely? And will remain so?

        I guess that is a rhetorical question? The obvious thing to do would be sending a water sample to a lab and get it tested for lead, which is much cheaper than replacing all lead pipes based on just a suspicion. If you got old lead pipes and the test comes back negative you know for sure that all surfaces are covered in calcium carbonate.

        Replacing all poisonous, permanently brain damaging lead pipes should be a no brainer

        Only if the water in fact has lead in it, which often is not the case with old pipes, as I explained.

        • maniclucky@lemmy.world
          0·
          6 months ago

          And what happens when an uninformed homeowner does a quicky repair themselves? Swap a coupling or maybe get a new faucet and disturb the calcium carbonate?

          With full recognition that not everyone can afford the swap, if you can do so, you should for the safety of everyone that enters the home and uses the water.