Flint, Michigan, made headlines, starting in 2015, when 5 percent of the city’s children tested high for the toxic metal lead in their blood. As the story unfolded it became clear that the children of Flint were victims of a massive failure of government, really a century-long failure to control the lead industry and the secondary industries that put lead into products for public consumption (gasoline, batteries, water pipes, paint, even some cosmetics, spices and glazes on pottery for cooking).

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