Purdue’s campus might as well be Flint, Michigan
A recent study found Purdue’s campus is at a very high risk for lead exposure
Flint, MI isn’t the only city in America that should be concerned about high lead exposure.
A collaboration between Vox and the Washington State’s Department of Health yielded a map showing where the highest risk of lead exposure can be found in the United States. A scale of one to ten was used to rank the risk for lead exposure, with ten being the highest.
All across Purdue University’s campus there is a very high risk for lead exposure. Starting from Chauncey Mall and reaching to the Acres, there is a risk level of ten out of ten for lead exposure. As soon as you are to the west of campus and out by the airport, the risk of exposure drops to level 4. In Downtown Lafayette, high risks similar to campus can be found. For some reason, the area where the Co-Rec, Shreve and it’s surrounding dorms were not counted on the map.
The research done by the Washington State Department of Health found two common factors that correlate with the risk of lead exposure in water: poverty and presence of older buildings. Thanks to our tuition giving our school plenty of money to work with, we know Purdue as a university is not impoverished. So, the reason the risk of lead exposure is so high could be because of the age of the buildings on campus. For instance, lead is likely to be found in water due to lead in the pipes used to transport water and lead based paint could be on all sorts of surfaces.
One thing you should know is just because Purdue was found to be a high-risk area does not mean you have necessarily been exposed to lead poisoning. The point of the study was to pinpoint areas that could have large levels of lead and ease of exposure. There are many other variables at play here, which would determine your chance of exposure. I’m not saying you should completely stop drinking water from the tap or the water fountains on campus, but it is important members of the Purdue and greater community know the risks.
Feel free to check out more information on the study done by Washington’s Department of health and find out the risk levels by where you live. You can also find out what you can do to reduce the risk of lead in your water and the effects it can have on your health.