Authors Rahi Abouk of William Paterson University and Scott Adams of University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee examined birth outcomes in Flint in the early stages of the water crisis in a peer-reviewed study.
“We were surprised we found something,” Adams told Rewire, given the brief period of the water crisis. “It was a very sharp reduction in birth weight, probably a bit more than I anticipated.”
Comparing birth data from 2005 to 2015, the researchers found an average 71 gram reduction in birth weight and a 26 percent increase in the incidence of low birth weight among children to white mothers. Despite the reduction in birth weight for infants of Black mothers, the researchers could not verify the numbers were statistically different than what would have occurred without the water change. They attribute this to stressors, such as the lead contamination, economic hardship, and access to maternal health care, likely being at higher levels among Black residents in Flint.
“A study released early this year suggested the water crisis could not have happened in whiter, wealthier cities.”
“Although lead readings were spread evenly throughout neighborhoods, the stressors associated with being a Black resident in Flint were already at higher levels. Given this, there might be a limited observable effect among infants of Black mothers because they were already experiencing adverse birth outcomes from various stressors,” the report reads.
Flint is the poorest community in the United States, with a majority of its population Black and low income. A study released early this year suggested the water crisis could not have happened in whiter, wealthier cities. The recent crisis added to, and was exacerbated by, Flint’s history of environmental disasters and political dysfunction.
The findings come on the heels of a working paper stating fetal death rates jumped by 58 percent and fertility rates dropped by 12 percent in Flint since the lead contamination came to light.
Researchers David Slusky from the University of Kansas and Daniel Grossman from West Virginia University compared Flint’s health records with 15 other Michigan cities in the study. State officials dismissed the findings.