The US Water Study Research Team at Virginia Tech

09/08/2025

Recent interview with Miguel Del Toral on the Flint, Michigan water crisis, contested narratives, and the defense of science:

Del Toral was a key figure in bringing to light the crime carried out against the people of Flint, Michigan by the state. He wanted to speak out on the efforts of the water experts who were vilified.

06/13/2024

Dinner with Miguel in Chicago

03/31/2023

Lead exposure cannot explain the rising special education enrollment rates Flint experienced following the water crisis.
Flint children being exposed to the narrative that they would have learning difficulties due to lead exposure may have caused harm through the nocebo effect (when someone believes harm has been done to them because they were told so).

The percentage of children in Detroit with elevated blood lead levels, from 2011-2019, has always been twice higher than the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels in Flint, even during the Flint Water Crisis. Yet still, Flint has experienced much higher rates of students enrolled in special education since the water crisis.

Read more here: https://undark.org/2023/03/30/as-flint-reeled-from-a-water-crisis-words-may-have-caused-harm/

09/02/2022

Dr. Edwards discussing the Jackson MS water crisis and drinking water safety in the U.S. on C-SPAN:

Marc Edwards, who was among the first to identify toxic levels of lead in the water in Flint, Michigan, talked about the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, and what it will take to fix aging water infrastructure systems throughout the country.

07/14/2022

Five water documentaries. Six graduate students. Reflections of science and society. Featuring work with underserved communities in Chicago and suburbs, Denmark (South Carolina), Newark, rural Appalachia and more. An original documentary series from the US Water Study team and filmmaker Erica Corder. Watch now:

Jeannie Purchase never expected to be the expert in front of a room filled with representatives from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. B...