this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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The Biden administration has announced a proposal to “strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the White House, more than 9.2 million American households connect to water through lead pipes and lead service lines and, due to “decades of inequitable infrastructure development and underinvestment,” many Americans are at risk of lead exposure.

“There is no safe level of exposure to lead, particularly for children, and eliminating lead exposure from the air, water, and homes is a crucial component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic commitment to advancing environmental justice,” the Biden administration said.

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[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 151 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Can't wait for the GOP to sabotage this so they can oWn ThE LiBs: "Lead free pipes are for socialists!"

[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 60 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

I've long wondered if lead exposure accounts for their behaviors over the past couple decades. Lead that accumulates in the bones over one's lifetime leaches out into the bloodstream when one becomes elderly, like calcium does with osteoporosis. Cognitive issues and rage are associated with lead exposure.

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 28 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I've long wondered if lead exposure accounts for their behaviors over the past couple decades.

That's exactly what has happened.

Imagine, if you will, a country that has a lot of land area, which uses personal ground transport to grt around. Imagine if, for decades, those personal transport machines used large, ineffcient engines that ran on a fuel that caused aerosolized lead to be blown into the atmosphere at a staggering rate?

[–] MasterBlaster@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Do not forget lead paint, pipes and crystal.

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[–] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I'm not sure about that, I've had lead poisoning for thirty years and I'm still not stupid enough to support those assholes.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (3 children)

it's dose dependant, and while your particular neurological effects may be different, in population studies for almost every country where lead has been banned, there is a direct relationship to violent crimes as well. Lead gasoline use goes up, crime rate goes up. Lead gasoline stops, and as the lead is measured to leave the environment, the violent crime goes down.

Intelligence is only one possible thing affected. It's also highly associated with emotional impulsiveness.

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[–] Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago

"We don't want any of your leftist 'woke' pipes!"

[–] 7u5k3n@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

I can already hear my boomer father bitching

[–] notannpc@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Came here to say this. I look forward to whatever their excuse is to not solve the toxic drinking water problem. And likely immediately spend more on DoD or cut taxes to the rich.

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 89 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Flip your district blue in 18 years with this one weird trick!

[–] GombeenSysadmin@feddit.uk 24 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This is a greater threat to the republicans than gerrymandering is to the democrats!

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[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 67 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (11 children)

Huzzah! Another great move by the Biden administration that will probably be overlooked by most commenters, like his labor board appointments that led to the recent union resurgence were.

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[–] WashedOver@lemmy.ca 55 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Those that purposely destroyed the water systems with cuts in Flint Michigan should have been quartered in a public square.

Sadly in reality they probably received bonuses and perks.

[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Those that caused the switchover to Flint River water that resulted in the disaster surfacing definitely should be drawn and quartered, no question. Snyder and his city managers put all this nonsense in motion and should be charged with crimes against humanity.

However, it's also a systemic, deeper problem in the US. Flint's pipes didn't suddenly become terrible overnight. The entire water system was in disrepair for decades. The only reason it didn't surface sooner was they were regulating the water going through it to hold the demons at bay. Even when it was working, pre-disaster, the water was safe to drink, but horrible from a drinking water perspective.

The whole system was a giant leaking piece of junk that basically kept working due to positive pressure pushing contaminants out of the leaks, and the pH level being maintained so the old pipes wouldn't start leeching into the water. That a GM engine plant had to switch water sources because the water was damaging the engine construction is just mind-blowing. Human bodies are vastly more delicate than engines.

Flint's not the only one either, many American cities with aging water infrastructure that wasn't properly maintained all have/had similar problems.

We are such a short-sighted country that seems to so quickly forget that our infrastructure requires constant maintenance and updates. I really think the generation that got to live among all the New Deal and post WWII infrastructure just thought they lived in a magic time where all this stuff just exists forever, rather than realizing it takes stewardship to keep things "the way they are". Now, we on the back end, reap the rewards of everything falling apart at the same time, faster than we can fix it.

[–] KnightontheSun@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

We are such a short-sighted country

We see about as far as the next quarter's profits. That seems to be the marker. Apparently, the future isn't really worth looking at past that.

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[–] 7Sea_Sailor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 49 points 11 months ago (6 children)

Just another day on which I as a European am absolutely shocked how shit the quality of life in the US is.

[–] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 67 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (6 children)

Europe has lead pipes as well, buddy.

They're perfectly safe as long as idiots don't change the water supply to one that's more acidic without buffering the pH.

Hell, England and Wales have nearly 3x more than the entire US.

[–] bluGill@kbin.social 24 points 11 months ago (2 children)

That isn't perfectly safe. That is normally safe, but once in a while something will go wrong and they become unsafe.

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[–] ExcursionInversion@lemmy.world 46 points 11 months ago (7 children)

We currently have the freedom to drink lead tainted water, can you say the same?

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 70 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Yes. 25% of domestic residences still use lead piping in the EU, compared to 10% in the US.

Europeans "Try Not To Talk Shit About Something You're Actually Worse About" Challenge:

Impossible.

[–] Stamau123@lemmy.world 21 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

But it feeeels like they should be better! Don't bring facts into the Europe self-suck contest

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[–] JanoRis@kbin.social 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

That data is still from 2009 though, but sadly there doesn't seem to be a newer statistic. Since that time many changes were made to push for the removal of old lead piping in the EU.

Anyway the threshold for lead in drinking water in the EU is 10ug/L since 2013.
Since 2020 a regulation has been in effect with the goal to have less than 5 ug/L drinking water at the consumer until 2036 everywhere in the EU.
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC125733

The US has a threshold of 15 ug/L.

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/leadtoxicity/safety_standards.html#:~:text=EPA's%20action%20level%20for%20lead,systems%20is%2015%20%C2%B5g%2FL.

https://extension.psu.edu/lead-in-drinking-water

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[–] Touching_Grass@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You don't even have pipes in Europe. You drink water that you squeeze out of your sheep's wool

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[–] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (4 children)

It’s worth noting that 9.2 million homes is an extremely small percentage of American homes and I’d say almost all of them are extremely rural homes or dying rural towns that just need relocated. Think of North Dakota as akin to the Siberian oblasts or northern Finland, neither get a lot of infrastructure care because no almost one is there. This is the Biden admin trying to look out for the little guy that’s been ignored the last century

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[–] Yearly1845@reddthat.com 49 points 11 months ago (1 children)

There the Democrats go again not doing anything!

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[–] Delta_V@midwest.social 48 points 11 months ago (1 children)

While we're digging shit up, lets lay some fiber.

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[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 48 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I would rather DRINK LEAD then to not be allowed to call a black person the N WORD! I'm a NOT RACIST REPUBLICAN!

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[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.world 43 points 11 months ago (3 children)

This has the potential to save democracy itself. If we can hold out 30-50 years.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 43 points 11 months ago (15 children)

Amazing that this has not been done decades ago.

[–] Stumblinbear@pawb.social 17 points 11 months ago (5 children)

To be completely fair, a layer builds up in the pipe which stops the lead being an issue unless you royally fuck up like Flint. That said, it still should've been fixed

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[–] Dra@lemmy.zip 39 points 11 months ago (14 children)

This has been often speculated as being the cause of the "Stupid American" stereotype. Good decision

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[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 35 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (17 children)

This is great. 10 years seems long, but it is a huge project. Glad it will be started soon.

Edit: Aw shit. This is only a proposal. At least we are talking about it.

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[–] Cylusthevirus@kbin.social 21 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)

Here you go.

"An initial estimate is that 25% of domestic dwellings in the EU have a lead pipe, either as a connection to the water main, or as part of the internal plumbing, or both, potentially putting 120 million people at risk from lead in drinking water within the EU. "

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[–] qwertyWarlord@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

This is a hugely underrated win imo. We have no idea the damage lead is doing to us, we can only guess the damage in health problems is in the billions. Politicians usually don't give a shit about this so for Biden to do so is a big outstretched hand and big achievement

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[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 11 months ago

Why suit man take my sweet water?

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Can you imagine if this turns out to be the thing that was needed to calm you lot down?

In a major new study (conducted decades ago) it turns out that Lead in your water/food/air is bad for you

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[–] MuuuaadDib@lemm.ee 15 points 11 months ago

I know the GOP will hate this plan, and want people dumber.

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (10 children)

Waiting for a Republican to call this a woke, gay, Chinese conspiracy or whatever.

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