FEATURE— January 2017
12
The thousands of U.S. locales where
lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
A
Reuters examination of lead test-
ing results across the country
found almost 3,000 areas with poi-
soning rates far higher than in the
tainted Michigan city. Yet many of
these lead hotspots are receiving
little attention or funding.
ST. JOSEPH, Missouri—On a sunny Novem-
ber afternoon in this historic city, birthplace of the
Pony Express and death spot of Jesse James,
Lauranda Mignery watched her son Kadin, 2, dig
in their front yard. As he played, she scolded him
for putting his fingers in his mouth.
In explanation, she pointed to the peeling
paint on her old house. Kadin, she said, has been
diagnosed with lead poisoning.
He has lots of company: Within 15 blocks of
his house, at least 120 small children have been
poisoned since 2010, making the neighborhood
among the most toxic in Missouri, Reuters found
as part of an analysis of childhood lead testing
results across the country. In St. Joseph, even a
local pediatrician's children were poisoned.
Last year, the city of Flint, Michigan, burst
into the world spotlight after its children were ex-
posed to lead in drinking water and some were
By M.B. Pell and Joshua Schneyer
LEAD ZONE: St. Joseph, Missouri, has neighborhoods filled with aged homes and high rates of lead
poisoning. Here, Kadin Mignery, 2, plays on his front porch. Kadin was diagnosed with lead poisoning,
prompting his mother to change his diet and repaint the home's interior. REUTERS/Whitney Curtis
