The Drinking Water Has Been Poisoning Children in This Michigan City

There's something in the water in Flint, Michigan.

Residents are being told not to drink tap water without a filter, and parents are bringing their sick children to pediatricians and receiving frightening diagnoses: lead poisoning. Now, the city has issued a state of emergency and is calling for state and federal assistance to help fix what Flint's Mayor is calling a "man-made disaster."

The alarming rise in lead poisoning has totally upended the city of just under 100,000, which is located next to Detroit. FEMA delivered 28,000 liters of emergency drinking water to Flint on Monday, according to local news outlet MLive.

"I can tell you today that we need state and federal assistance for the people to feel comfortable. We need some help," said Karen Weaver, Flint's Mayor.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of lead poisoning, and just a small amount of lead can cause serious problems as it builds up in the body over time. Lead affects how a child's brain develops, leading to a lower IQ and behavioral changes such as a shortened attention span and antisocial behavior, and, ultimately, reduced success in school.

The World Health Organization lists off a litany of frightening ailments. "Lead exposure also causes anemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs. The neurological and behavioral effects of lead are believed to be irreversible."

A study published by Flint's Hurley Medical Center linked the rise in elevated levels of lead in children to when Flint switched in 2014 from the using the Detroit water system to drawing water from the Flint River. Parents had suspected the change to be the reason for the lead poisoning, the incidence of which has risen by two-fold since the change.

Add water poisoning to the list of woes for Flint. The city has been hit hard by the downturn of the American auto industry, and switching water sources was a cost-cutting measure that was projected to save the city $5 million in two years. At that time, the city was planning to join a new water system drawing from Lake Huron. The change was made while under emergency financial management by the state.

As alarms over lead poisoning increased, the governor pledged $16 million to help manage the crisis and get Flint back on the Detroit water system, but it was too late. Despite returning to Detroit's system in October, there were already many sick children.

NBC reports that a driving issue of Mayor Weaver's election campaign was to declare a state of emergency in the city. Residents had complained about the water quality, which didn't taste, smell, or look right. City officials maintained the water was fine, but then the cases of lead poisoning began to roll in.

It's unclear how much assistance Flint will receive, and state managers are signaling that aid expectations should be tempered.

"It's not like FEMA will come here on a magic carpet," Ron Leix, of the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division, told NBC News on Tuesday. "It can be a lengthy process."

Meanwhile, Flint is pleading for assistance, and the extent of the damage done is unclear. Lead poisoning can build slowly, and symptoms may appear after some time.

"There's no question in my mind that Flint is not able to take on this challenge by ourselves," Mayor Weaver said.