{"id":68903,"date":"2016-05-24T13:20:50","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T18:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=68903"},"modified":"2016-05-24T13:20:50","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T18:20:50","slug":"heres-why-it-took-the-us-almost-80-years-to-ban-lead-pipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2016\/05\/24\/heres-why-it-took-the-us-almost-80-years-to-ban-lead-pipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s Why It Took the US Almost 80 Years to Ban Lead Pipes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking a cue from sociologists, The Nightly Show<\/a> has started a segment called the “Super Depressing Deep Dive.” In the five minute segment\u00a0I’ve embedded below, they explain that we’ve known that lead was highly toxic since 1904, but the US didn’t ban lead paint until 1978 and lead pipes even later. Why not?<\/p>\n

Looking at the evidence piling up, the League of Nations encouraged all nations to stop the use of lead paint in 1922, but the United States didn’t sign on. They deferred to the industry — the\u00a0Lead Industries Association and the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association\u00a0—\u00a0who successfully lobbied the federal government. Not only did the US decline to ban the\u00a0substance, in 1938\u00a0the government\u00a0actually\u00a0mandated<\/em> that lead paint be used in housing projects for poor people, putting\u00a0the lead industries profits above the health of poor children.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0industry\u00a0also fought warning labels, criticized the science, sued at least one source — a television show — for telling the truth about lead, and blamed\u00a0the victim, claiming that the\u00a0real problem was “uneducable Negro and Puerto Rican” parents who failed\u00a0to adequately protect their children.\u00a0They even dispensed pro-lead propaganda directly to kids, like in this page from a free children’s book distributed\u00a0by a paint company in which a pair of rubber boots say to the child (bottom right):<\/p>\n

You knew when we were moulded
\nThe man who made us said
\nWe’re strong and tough and lively
\nBecause in us there’s lead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Because of the disproportionate impact on the poor and racial minorities,\u00a0the\u00a0Black Panthers made fighting lead paint a part of their mission and their work ultimately contributed\u00a0to the banning of lead paint in 1978 and pipes in the 1980s. By that time, though, the damage was done. Lead pipes are still in the ground and lead paint continues to be\u00a0a serious threat in poor neighborhoods, doing\u00a0irreparable damage to the lives of poor children and the communities they are a part of.<\/p>\n