It’s been almost two years since the Flint Water Crisis first began, and Flint still does not have clean water. While it doesn’t seem like much is being done to fix the problem quickly, people like Big Sean are doing their part to contribute to the solution.
Big Sean appeared on the Daily Show and revealed that The Sean Anderson Foundation raised $100,000 to help residents with lead poisoning get proper health care and provide them with clean water in Flint, a city that’s 70 miles from Detroit, the rapper’s hometown.
Flint switched the water supply from the Detroit water system and began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014 to save money. When the Flint water crisis made national headlines, people from all over rallied together and sent bottles of water to the city.
December 2016, House Republicans quietly closed the year-long investigation and concluded that the state officials and the Environmental Protection Agency are at fault for the water contamination that has affected nearly 100,000 residents.
“It’s not even close to being over,” Big Sean told Trevor Noah. “That situation wasn’t a natural disaster. It’s something that should’ve been prevented and could’ve been prevented, so it’s just disgusting to think about the damages that these families and even kids have to go through with the lead poisoning.”
Sean also revealed that his mother had experienced lead poisoning, but was able to reverse its some of the effects through “holistic care and homeopathic remedies.”
Initially, lead poisoning can be hard to detect — even people who seem healthy can have high blood levels of lead. Signs and symptoms usually don’t appear until dangerous amounts have accumulated.
Signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children include:
– Developmental delay
– Learning difficulties
– Irritability
– Loss of appetite
– Weight loss
– Sluggishness and fatigue
– Abdominal pain
– Vomiting
– Constipation
– Hearing loss
– Seizures
– Eating things, such as paint chips, that aren’t food (pica)
– Lead poisoning symptoms in newborns
Although children are primarily at risk, lead poisoning is also dangerous for adults. Signs and symptoms in adults might include:
– High blood pressure
– Joint and muscle pain
– Difficulties with memory or concentration
– Headache
– Abdominal pain
– Mood disorders
– Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
– Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women
In addition to raising money, Big Sean also wanted to support Flint creatively and will feature the Flint Chosen Choir on a track titled “Bigger Than Me,” on his upcoming album, I Decided, which drops February 3.
Although the Department of Environmental Quality has announced that the lead levels in the water have fallen below the federal limit, the city is still advised to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth.
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