Friday, April 08, 2016

Lead Exposure and Contaminated Water Maps


The recent high level of news reporting about the lead contamination in the water supply in Flint Michigan has lead to more general concerns about lead poisoning in the United States.

Vox has created an interactive map showing the risk of lead exposure across the United States. Where is the lead exposure risk in your community? is a choropleth map showing the estimated risk of lead exposure at county level. If you mouse-over a county on the map you can view the actual risk score.

It is important to note that this map gives an estimated risk score based on government data about surrounding environmental factors, such as the age of housing (more likely to contain lead paints). The map is not based on scientific testing of local levels of lead.


The Environmental Working Group has created an interactive map of PFC contamination in drinking water.The PFC Contamination Map uses data from the the Environmental Protection Agency to show the level of PFC's found in water supplies at county level.

PFC's have entered the water supply around some Air Force bases, where fire fighting foams containing PFC's may have been used, and in factories producing Teflon. You can read more about the dangers of PFC's and the PFC Contamination Map in this EWG article.

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