During the crisis, tens of thousands of children and adults in Flint developed high blood-lead levels, putting them at greater risk for cognitive deficits, mental health problems, and other health problems later in life.Īlmost all of the surveyed residents reported that they changed their behavior to avoid consuming contaminated water during the crisis, and the majority of them worry that their exposure to lead may lead to future health problems. Consequently, almost all Flint residents were exposed to drinking water with unsafe levels of bacteria, disinfection byproducts, and lead, a neurotoxicant.įlint drinking water was not declared lead-free until January 24, 2017. On April 25, 2014, the city of Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River and failed to properly treat the water supply to prevent lead and other elements from leaching out of the city’s old water pipes. Efforts should also include mental health recourses to those who need it.” water crisis, and they showcase the importance of coupling efforts to fix the water supply system with clear communication by officials, to restore trust in the safety of the system.

“The findings highlight the importance of early action following environmental disasters such as the current Jackson, Miss. “Our study adds to the growing body of evidence about the long-term substantial population mental health toll of environmental disasters,” says study coauthor Salma Abdalla (SPH’16,’22), SPH alum and research fellow at BUSPH. The new study is an analysis of the largest mental health survey of the Flint community, and it is the first to indicate the long-term prevalence of clinical PTSD or depression among Flint residents through standardized interviews. These estimates mean that, among Flint’s population of 81,000 people, 25,000 people may have had PTSD, 22,600 may have had depression, and 14,300 may have experienced both mental health conditions. Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study also found that 1 in 5 adults in Flint may have experienced depression, and 1 in 10 met the criteria for both PTSD and depression, in the years following what is considered to be the largest public-works environmental health disaster in the country’s history. may have experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study coauthored by School of Public Health researchers. Five years after the Flint water crisis, an estimated one in four residents of Flint, Mich.