Lead Poisoning

The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates there are at least 330,000 lead pipes funneling tap water into Missouri homes and other buildings — the sixth-highest of any state in the nation.

In St. Louis, there are many stories about how environmental racism impacts everyday people and their health, housing, and daily lives. So in this season, we’ll use the Washington University Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic’s 2019 report on Environmental Racism in St. Louis to guide us through conversations about the top environmental issues facing the most vulnerable communities in St. Louis. In this episode, we look back at how St. Louis’ history of systemic racism has impacted the living environments of low-income and Black residents, how the report featured stories of everyday people, and what type of environment the report’s recommendations could create for the next generation.

In this episode, we introduce you to two Black artists who teamed up to heal and educate their community through an urban farm in predominantly Black North St. Louis City. They share their vision for building an education garden with accessible raised beds, and growing flowers and healing herbs alongside chickens and bees. Then we learn about how they encountered a major obstacle that put their dreams on hold...

In the last two seasons of the show, we have covered the COVID-19 pandemic and the current uprising for Black lives, both of which continue to shape society today. The pandemic and the uprising also raised two major questions, which we’ll be addressing in our new season on environmental racism: How do we achieve a healthy life? And what kind of world do we want to leave for the next generation? These are profound questions for a region that boasts some of the most prestigious hospitals in the nation and is home to residents with some of the worst health outcomes. So in this season, we’ll trace the connection between systemic racism, housing conditions, and health outcomes. But we’ll also highlight the organizers, tenants rights advocates, and urban farmers who are working to improve conditions in their communities. The first episode of the environmental racism season drops on Friday, February 12th, anywhere you get podcasts.

Public records obtained by researchers at Virginia Tech show the city of Quincy changed its water treatment processes in the months leading up to the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, which may have allowed Legionella bacteria to multiply throughout the water system.

Mortality rates are continuing to widen between black and white St. Louisans, according to new analysis presented to a Board of Aldermen committee…

Environmental hazards in the neighborhoods of many black people in St. Louis put them at a higher risk of health problems than white residents, according…

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 26, 2010 - St. Louis is making great strides in its attack on childhood lead poisoning,…