A new study says as many as 276 fewer children were born in Flint during the height of the water crisis, due to the impact of lead contamination in the city’s water.
The study, from the University of Kansas, looked at fertility rates and fetal deaths in Flint after the city began drawing water from the Flint river in 2014.
David Slusky is a co-author on the study. He said before the lead crisis Flint had a relatively normal fertility rate.
“We saw that number relative to the changes in the rest of the cities in Michigan go down by about seven births per thousand women in this time period. It’s about a 12% decrease.”
Slusky said during the same time period, the fetal death rate in the city rose by 58%.
He said the lasting impacts of lead are still unknown but these results don’t bode well.
“This can continue to be studied and these children can continue to be studied for decades. But given the literature around lead the hypothesis are not very good.”
Slusky said lead pipes are widely used across the country and close monitoring of water systems is vital to the safety and health of residents in cities nationwide.
“I think the thing that we should demand most here is better environmental testing and screening, both of water and people, proper water management and proper remediation when necessary.”
Slusky said he doesn’t know if fertility rates and fetal deaths have stabilized yet because there is no data available beyond 2016.
The news comes just as U.S. Census data found Flint is the poorest city in the country.