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Lead Contamination

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Article Summary:
The article discusses a public health emergency that was declared in Flint, Michigan, due to lead contamination in the state’s drinking water caused by corroded pipelines. The article’s principal indication is that the government must take the dangers of metal corrosion/lead contamination seriously. Immediate precautions should be taken to prevent harm, rather than postponing it until it develops into a critical problem. Firstly, the article explains the results of the recent tests taken at the local children’s hospital. Randy Wimbleys, from FOX 2’s, stated that the tests “found [that] the number of Flint kids under the age of 5 with above average lead levels nearly doubled city-wide and in some cases, tripled.” Furthermore, the city was previously receiving its water from Lake Huron, but switched over to the waters of Flint River, which is responsible for the contamination. The director of Natural Resources Defense Council’s Midwest …show more content…

Lead, when written as a half reaction on the Standard Reduction Potentials table, tends to lose or gain 2e−. Lead is placed towards the bottom of the SRP table, making it a weak oxidizing agent and a strong reducing agent. Therefore, when reacting with entities above it, lead oxidizes (loses electrons). It’s position allows lead to participate in redox reactions with many substances, specifically, oxygen in the process of corrosion. When exposed to oxygen and moisture, lead atoms in an anodic region will each lose 2e−, forming Pb2+ ions. The oxidation half reaction is : 2Pb(s) → 2Pb2+(aq) + 4e− . These electrons will then proceed to flow through the lead metal until they reach a cathodic region where they are involved in the reduction of oxygen. The reduction half reaction is: O2(g) + 2H2O(l) + 4 e− → 4 OH−(aq). The Pb2+ ions will finally flow through the moisture to the oxygen and form lead oxide. The net equation is: O2(g) + 2H2O(l) + 2Pb(s) → 2Pb2+(aq) + 4

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