Why Do We STILL Use Lead Pipes?!

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  • čas přidán 6. 05. 2020
  • Visit www.apmreports.org/water to read "Buried Lead". This video was made in partnership with The Water Main.
    We've known for millennia that lead pipes could make us sick, so why are we still drinking from them?
    Thanks also to our Patreon patrons / minuteearth and our CZcams members.
    ___________________________________________
    To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
    Hard water: water with a high mineral content
    Soft water: water with a low mineral content
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    ___________________________________________
    Credits (and Twitter handles):
    Video Writer, Director, and Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
    Video Illustrator: Sarah Berman (@sarahjberman)
    With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg, Julián Gómez, Arcadi Garcia Rius
    Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: / drschroeder
    ___________________________________________
    References:
    Hernberg, S. (2000) Lead Poisoning in a Historical Perspective. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 38(3): 256-249. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/p...
    Hodge, AT. (1981) Vitruvius, lead pipes and lead poisoning. American Journal of Archaeology 85(4): 486-491. www.jstor.org/stable/504874
    Milton, AL. (1988) Lead and lead poisoning from Antiquity to Modern Times. Ohio Journal of Science 88: 78-84. kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/23252
    Rabin, R. (2008) The Lead Industry and Lead Water Pipes: a Modest Campaign. Public Health 98 (9): 1584-92. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
    Troesken W. and Beeson, P. (2003) On the Significance of Lead Water Mains in American Cities: Some Historical Evidence.” In Health and Labor Force Participation over the Life Course, ed. Costa Dora L., 127-51. Chicago: University of Chicago Press and NBER. www.nber.org/chapters/c9632.pdf
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 1,6K

  • @MinuteEarth
    @MinuteEarth  Před 4 lety +370

    Viewer support has led MinuteEarth to where we are today! Want to become our Patreon or member on CZcams? Just visit www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth or click "JOIN". Thanks!

    • @I_dont_knows
      @I_dont_knows Před 4 lety +2

      This vid is sooo cool!

    • @generallyexplained6881
      @generallyexplained6881 Před 4 lety +3

      Do checkout my channel too❤
      I make Informative content💗

    • @ataarono
      @ataarono Před 4 lety +2

      Replacing lead pipes would hurt the environment because we would be using plastic pipes! Bad move MinuteEarth show some of the negatives too!

    • @ricoautosauve7849
      @ricoautosauve7849 Před 4 lety

      MinuteEarth Even though you’re obviously not a lead channel I think you should put some research into the levels of lead from more innocuous sources like brass keys and flexible PVC that really don’t face much regulation due to the technology without lead being “unfeasible and out of reach”

    • @somewhatBoring
      @somewhatBoring Před 4 lety +1

      OK Mrs minute earth and Mr minute earth. Yayayayay

  • @DoctorX17
    @DoctorX17 Před 4 lety +2529

    I like lead in places where it can't poison me, like sealed in another metal in radiation shielding, not my pipes

    • @sleepydog9968
      @sleepydog9968 Před 4 lety +137

      yes. not dying seems nice

    • @tricky778
      @tricky778 Před 4 lety +83

      In the UK we put it around windows in roofs and chimneys and any other places in roofs where water might get in around an awkward shape. Of course water runs over this into the reservoirs and fields of food and children have direct unsupervised access to it.

    • @sleepydog9968
      @sleepydog9968 Před 4 lety +28

      @@tricky778 oh dear. didn't know that fact, thanks! (and hope they get it sorted somehow) 👍

    • @cageybee7221
      @cageybee7221 Před 4 lety +20

      @@sleepydog9968 the modern solution is usually plastic or polymer, he is probably talking about older victorian and before era homes when those other safer technologies didn't exist. though i'm not sure as i don't live in the UK they might still use lead in new homes.

    • @ballpython3310
      @ballpython3310 Před 4 lety +14

      @@cageybee7221 They have some odd rules their to maintain the authenticity of old houses. Like how if a house had a thatch roof you can't replace it with a modern one, I wonder if the same thing can apply to sealers there. The US has similar rules but they apply to far fewer houses and there are usually ways around them.

  • @oriondye3212
    @oriondye3212 Před 4 lety +954

    “Yes let us replace all those lead pipes with plastic ones.”
    50 years later, “Let us discuss the dangers of dissolved plastics in our water.”

    • @thebogangamer1
      @thebogangamer1 Před 3 lety +43

      in australia we use concert and copper lol.

    • @dinamosflams
      @dinamosflams Před 3 lety +54

      @@thebogangamer1 costly to maintain and not durable

    • @thebogangamer1
      @thebogangamer1 Před 3 lety +146

      @@dinamosflams at least we have no lead in our water.

    • @dinamosflams
      @dinamosflams Před 3 lety +54

      @@thebogangamer1 life without spicy water is no life

    • @WlatPziupp
      @WlatPziupp Před 3 lety +89

      @@dinamosflams Lead is sweet, not spicy

  • @TheScienceBiome
    @TheScienceBiome Před 4 lety +1963

    "Poisoning people one refreshing drink at a time!" - Minute Earth 2020

    • @salimaa9209
      @salimaa9209 Před 4 lety +9

      i saw you in the TED talk truly amazing.

    • @bcubed72
      @bcubed72 Před 4 lety +8

      Lead pipes endangers noone if you know what the hell you're doing. It's just that "lead" mixes poorly with "dumbassedry."

    • @MrYerak5
      @MrYerak5 Před 4 lety +1

      Same as soft drinks, when you think about it

    • @juliemittel3931
      @juliemittel3931 Před 4 lety +2

      sounds like something graystillplays would say when he plays a game about running a lemonade stand

    • @average_rainworld_enjoyer
      @average_rainworld_enjoyer Před 3 lety

      @Lika _draws101 HOW DARE THEY

  • @dancepiglover
    @dancepiglover Před 4 lety +449

    I used to work at a vet clinic and, once when we were talking about lead toxicity, the vet actually said that it has no affect on anyone older than 6! I was speechless; I simply didn’t know how to respond. Needless to say, I ended up quitting due to lots of problems.

    • @David_Apollonius
      @David_Apollonius Před 4 lety +106

      Children are more vulnerable to lead. That doesn't mean it's not bad for you.

    • @SerPapus
      @SerPapus Před 4 lety +29

      It’s bad for you at any age.

    • @gio0042
      @gio0042 Před 4 lety +15

      You should've offered him some lead oxide to snort

    • @zero5496
      @zero5496 Před 4 lety +18

      Wow really? How did he got a diploma in the first place?

    • @BeHappyTo
      @BeHappyTo Před 4 lety +69

      @@zero5496 same way you get any diploma, memorise answers to questions and forget a year after passing

  • @UloPe
    @UloPe Před 4 lety +132

    In Germany the water regulations mandate that all lead pipes had to have been replaced by end of 2013. Most regions already had stopped using lead pipes sind the late 1870s though.

  • @probablynotabigtoe9407
    @probablynotabigtoe9407 Před 4 lety +521

    "Empires perish, but lead pipes persist"
    Oh the Irony in that statement.

    • @GhostGlitch.
      @GhostGlitch. Před 4 lety +6

      I don't see it, can you explain?

    • @brandonchan5387
      @brandonchan5387 Před 4 lety +109

      @@GhostGlitch. I think it means this: lead pipes poison people, leading to empires to crumble. But the lead lasts longer, and people of the next empire to take over boasts about how the lead pipes persisted. And then they get poisoned by lead and are replaced by yet another empire.

    • @bugsiins3407
      @bugsiins3407 Před 4 lety +14

      i don't think that's irony bro

    • @cxiliapersono
      @cxiliapersono Před 4 lety +43

      @@bugsiins3407 yeah, i think "leady" suits better

    • @necrisro
      @necrisro Před 4 lety +13

      @@bugsiins3407 One of the reasons the Roman Empire fell is because of lead poisoning.

  • @kaiserwilhelmiiemperorofge2801

    ah yes, the perfect think to make me feel safe during quarantine.

  • @watchm4ker
    @watchm4ker Před 4 lety +215

    Hard water is just replacing one problem with another, because that 'crusty buildup' gets into *every* pipe or container. It narrows supply pipes, outright block interior pipes, and can severely harm any kind of boiler by forming an insulating layer over the heating element. It's better then lead poisoning, certainly, but pipe replacement should be pursued above calcifying the water supply.

    • @benalor1973
      @benalor1973 Před 4 lety +1

      With time and when we don't have an Economy or Powerful foe rising in the east.

    • @absalomdraconis
      @absalomdraconis Před 4 lety +10

      Calcification _must_ be pursued, because replacing the pipes (even just because of the crews _available_ to do it) will take decades anyways!

    • @absalomdraconis
      @absalomdraconis Před 4 lety +11

      @@benalor1973 : It's going to happen anyways. The places that can afford it are doing it when they can, just to cut down on future problems. They'll eventually have to replace the pipes anyways.

    • @blackoak4978
      @blackoak4978 Před 3 lety

      Typically households do not have lead pipes, so water softeners can avoid most of those issues by taking the minerals out after the water has left the dangerous pipes

  • @PhilTruthborne
    @PhilTruthborne Před 4 lety +583

    Gonna be hard to convince people of power that health is more important than money

    • @fivade6534
      @fivade6534 Před 4 lety +32

      Also the people

    • @cmarley314
      @cmarley314 Před 4 lety +7

      We're doing it for the virus though... Killing jobs for public health

    • @supercalifragic1551
      @supercalifragic1551 Před 4 lety +51

      Can you not be reductive as though wealth is the sole evil in the world? You're talking about foundational infrastructure that's run through cities for generations with an incredible amount of man hours it would take to go through and disrupt cities as you go through replacing them. It would take incredible time, man hours, labor, and everybody who just loves it when their favorite road(s) are closed off for construction. If you start a full scale martial law type effort right now, it could still take a decade.

    • @N12015
      @N12015 Před 4 lety +9

      Specially when those safer pipes have a serious problem: IS EXPENSIVE, and is public money the used while being replaced, so it won't guarantee a healtier system.

    • @electronresonator8882
      @electronresonator8882 Před 4 lety +3

      it makes a lot of sense...since by getting more money means that they can avoid drinking from the pipe..
      like how people make money from oil and coal, can you go and live on Mars if you have no money?

  • @majorfallacy5926
    @majorfallacy5926 Před 4 lety +172

    Wasn't it actually common knowledge in ancient Rome that new lead pipes had to be in use for a few years before you could drink from them?

    • @jlammetje
      @jlammetje Před 4 lety +56

      Major Fallacy wouldn’t surprise me, the ancient Romans had a lot of things figured out.

    • @CamillaBishops
      @CamillaBishops Před rokem +9

      I don't really know, but Rome has very hard water even today, so it would make sense.

  • @warb_of_fire
    @warb_of_fire Před 4 lety +125

    Adding phosphate also isn't ideal when the water isn't filtered properly before it goes back into the local watershed, for example when there are cross-connections or inadequate sewage treatment. Then it contributes to eutrophication along with what's already being done by the sewage itself.

    • @nathaniel907
      @nathaniel907 Před 4 lety

      Then what should we instead of replacing them? And are lead poisoning common in cities that use lead pipes ?

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz Před 4 lety +4

      @@nathaniel907 A plastic and epoxy "sock" is unrolled into the old pipe by blowing through it. It fixes the old leaks and presents a barrier to the metal.
      No, it's not common: it's scandalous when a community doesn't buffer the water during treatment and tries to deny the problem and fake the test results instead.

    • @IolcanPK
      @IolcanPK Před 3 lety

      @@JohnDlugosz Hey, this sounds like the stent operation surgeons do to prevent aneurysms

    • @somerandoontheinternet4224
      @somerandoontheinternet4224 Před 2 lety +1

      This is why i'm going to leave the USA

  • @connorconnor2421
    @connorconnor2421 Před 4 lety +395

    Iron and lead in the same world?
    What is this heresy

  • @Tiniuc
    @Tiniuc Před 4 lety +65

    For some reason, I read 'LEAD' as 'LEWD'.
    I think I've had enough internet for today.

  • @mrblond750
    @mrblond750 Před 4 lety +21

    Here’s an interesting scenario. I have a sidewalk on my property, tree roots push the sidewalk up causing a trip hazard, the city sends me a repair order. It costs over 1K to have the tree removed, and the sidewalk re-poured. I’m responsible for fixing a public use space, that’s BS but I get it. Meanwhile government and utility are completely aware that lead pips can lead to poison and choose to rely on the thin brittle mineral covering to protect its citizens over replacing the piping, which we all know is best. This is just one reason we need to eliminate finical interest in government.

  • @habi0187
    @habi0187 Před 4 lety +23

    Here in Germany all public water pipes have been changed about 20 years ago. In some very old houses it is said that there are still some lead pipes but honestly I have never seen one. Additionally the limits for lead in water are much lower than in the US but on the downside we have to pay for our water and also the waste water. In my area it is something like 6 Euro per 1000 liter. But in order not to be poisoned and to keep the rivers clean I am happy to pay this costs.

    • @Bleiser3
      @Bleiser3 Před 4 měsíci

      Here in finland I pay 20€ flat every month for water no matter the usage. Some of my relatives pay 25€. Price varies and sometimes theres usage price too.

    • @salter1630
      @salter1630 Před 2 dny

      Americans pay for water

  • @justAguyDs
    @justAguyDs Před 4 lety +177

    I love how bad the puns are

  • @skebess
    @skebess Před 4 lety +257

    Damn it, I really didn't need to know this.

    • @ataarono
      @ataarono Před 4 lety +7

      comon just take another sip... its good for you ! ;)

    • @isaaclarson5653
      @isaaclarson5653 Před 4 lety +21

      Copper pipes contain high amounts of lead in them. Granted it's not as much as lead pipes themselves, but it's enough that I need to wash my hands after working on them.

    • @GameFuMaster
      @GameFuMaster Před 4 lety +6

      @@isaaclarson5653 So they're not copper then, but an alloy?

    • @isaaclarson5653
      @isaaclarson5653 Před 4 lety +11

      @@GameFuMaster I guess, but it isn't done on purpose. Copper ore naturally contains high amounts of lead, and the process of taking that out is way too expensive.

    • @ricoautosauve7849
      @ricoautosauve7849 Před 4 lety +11

      Isaac Larson I’m fairly certain most modern copper pipes have strict lead limits in terms of ppm that are well controlled and made clear when marketed to consumers. I’d be more concerned about flexible PVC and brass keys (1.5-2% lead).

  • @redgreen2453
    @redgreen2453 Před 4 lety +55

    Is the answer money? I bet the answer is "because of money."
    If the question is "why do we..." it's because someone, somewhere is profiting off of it. Usually the same people who are profiting off of everything else.

    • @absalomdraconis
      @absalomdraconis Před 4 lety +12

      It's both expensive to replace pipe (the stuff running to your house is about $100 _per foot..._ and that's _not_ because of the pipe itself), and _slow_ to replace pipe. However, if you _really_ want it done, you can get part of it done early by paying for the length that runs to your house to be replaced out of your own pocket.

    • @fireworkstarter
      @fireworkstarter Před 4 lety +1

      Yea good luck shotting down infrastructure and pay some plebs to put the stuff in the ground for free.

    • @druhu4590
      @druhu4590 Před 4 lety +9

      You can turn every engineering issue into "because money" because money = manpower, and engineering/infrastructure take manpower. You can try to frame this as "big wig at the top doesn't care about the little guy," but all these infrastructure projects carry a hefty price with them, which you and your neighbors will end up paying, so really the people saving money, or "profiting", are just the people, the common taxpaying man. Maybe that's a bad decision, it definitely could be, but the mere fact that it is "because money" does not make it immoral, as that money (manpower!) could go to lots of other good things.

    • @Doublemonk0506
      @Doublemonk0506 Před 3 lety

      It's also because if you want to replace the pipes, you'll have to shut off water from an area, which is a massive inconvenience as you won't have water from anywhere to a few hours to a few days

  • @AverytheCubanAmerican
    @AverytheCubanAmerican Před 4 lety +24

    Reminds me of Newark where my mom is from (But she no longer lives there). They’ve had a water crisis since 2016 because of the lead pipes. As of the beginning of this year, over 200K residents have been affected by elevated levels of lead

    • @DavidVargasColombia
      @DavidVargasColombia Před 4 lety +3

      and if I remember correctly, the problem was caused by the utility company changing the chemical used to create that pipe coating. It wasn't effective, leading to the coating to disintegrate and causing lead leakage.
      Its a sorry situatiion. Best wishes to your mum!!

    • @eggrollsoup
      @eggrollsoup Před 4 lety

      Avery the Cuban-American YOU ARE EVERYWHERE

    • @BeezerWashingbeard
      @BeezerWashingbeard Před 4 lety

      I see your comments everywhere.

  • @sabersibertiger1520
    @sabersibertiger1520 Před 4 lety +8

    I quit water.

  • @ZephyrsTuneOfficial
    @ZephyrsTuneOfficial Před 4 lety +30

    You should have totally mentioned Clair Cameron Patterson.

  • @JR-vc4gm
    @JR-vc4gm Před 4 lety +9

    Wow, this is so scaring. I need a glass of fresh water to calm down.

  • @myopinionsarefacts
    @myopinionsarefacts Před 4 lety +125

    Last time I was this early Flint had clean water

    • @skie6282
      @skie6282 Před 4 lety

      Congress actually passed a large sum of millions if dollars for flint years ago, you can look it up.

    • @dynamicworlds1
      @dynamicworlds1 Před 4 lety +7

      @@skie6282 and it still has poisoned water.

    • @ballpython3310
      @ballpython3310 Před 4 lety

      @@dynamicworlds1 ? Flint switched back to the non toxic water and by now the scaling should have built up, are you referring to something other than lead?

    • @OneViolentGentleman
      @OneViolentGentleman Před 4 lety +1

      Wasn't Flint also the city where you could ignite the water because of the fracking they did there?

    • @ImBigFloppa
      @ImBigFloppa Před 3 lety

      DynamicWorlds Flint has had perfectly save drinking water since 2017. Quit spouting out the same line year after year of it being fixed.

  • @imariwalker
    @imariwalker Před 4 lety +6

    Very informative video! I think it’s important that everyone knows how to look up county water quality information pages and know how to test their own water to compare. Thanks for sharing.

  • @Hakasedess
    @Hakasedess Před 4 lety +205

    The ongoing water crisis in Flint really shouldn't be referred to in the past tense.

    • @FactThis
      @FactThis Před 4 lety +22

      Lead concentrations in Flint's water have fallen well within federal guidelines for quite a while now. The health impacts are probably ongoing, but the water has been found to be safe at almost every source tested since 2017.

    • @David_Last_Name
      @David_Last_Name Před 4 lety +17

      Yup, it took about 3 years. Thus PROOF that this can, in fact, be done in a reasonable time scale......
      Oh wait, it cost MONEY?! Nevermind then.

    • @FlintTD
      @FlintTD Před 4 lety +4

      @@FactThis Have lead levels decreased because the local officials was bombarded into mixing the lining minerals back into their water supply, or have they decreased because the city dug up the lead pipes and replaced them with safe materials? Were the people monitoring the lead-levels, and claiming they are safe, using the EPA guidelines that this very video says aren't based in science? Because I suspect that no actual progress has been made on solving the underlying causes of the Flint Water Crisis.

    • @nolaffinmatter
      @nolaffinmatter Před 3 lety +4

      ​@@FlintTD Researchers have shown that, as of 2017, the water supply in Flint, MI has been fixed to the point where lead levels are actually *lower* than they were in 2012, before the crisis.
      www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/05/a-brand-new-look-at-lead-contamination-in-flint/

    • @FlintTD
      @FlintTD Před 3 lety +1

      @@nolaffinmatter You didn't actually engage with my point, which was that leaving lead pipe infrastructure installed leaves the communities those pipes service vulnerable. They remain vulnerable to bad local administrations, who believe that they can cut costs by switching to cheap water services which do things like skimping on mineral lining.
      The exact article you linked reinforces my point, because D.C. also skimped on mineral lining, and all of their vulnerable communities were hit (even harder than Flint's!). Because this happened meerely a decade before the Flint Crisis, the Flint administration should have already known to be wary of making the mistake they did. And yet, they made the same mistake over again, because cost cutting on bare-minimum services looks attractive to unempathetic leaders.
      The USA needs water infrastructure which is more robust, to protect citizens who are vulnerable to necessary services being compromised by bad leadership.

  • @scottfranco1962
    @scottfranco1962 Před 4 lety +21

    There is a lot of missing or misstated facts here. First, Flint was not caused by lack of minerals, it was caused by using water with a radically different PH which leached lead from the pipes at an accelerated rate. Second, in Roman times they did not use pressurized water systems, but had water continually flowing from the source in the mountains to the taps in the streets and houses. The water didn't have time to leach out lead from the pipes. It only became a problem when we used pressurized water, essentially leaving water in the pipes for long periods of time.

    • @Sevenhens
      @Sevenhens Před 4 lety +3

      "Didn't have time to leech"??? Is this some kind of scientific insight you're getting into?? Hilariously wrong physics lmao.
      If you don't understand diffusion, then don't say things you don't understand

  • @lukassnakeman
    @lukassnakeman Před 4 lety +205

    everyone: someone should do something about this problem"
    how about a small donation or putting some thought into your voting choices?
    also everyone: no

    • @ADAJ342
      @ADAJ342 Před 4 lety +9

      It certainly wouldn't be small

    • @Nufuckingway
      @Nufuckingway Před 4 lety +12

      @@ADAJ342 small donations, one pipe at the time

    • @EpicWolverine
      @EpicWolverine Před 4 lety +14

      I don’t think you understand the scale of this problem.

    • @Merlincat007
      @Merlincat007 Před 4 lety +25

      Problem is, most politicians aren't willing to put money into anything they can conceivably kick down the road. In our system, voting often has no effect on some of these systemic problems. Also, don't blame voters for being unsure when they receive extremely poor political education and constant media propaganda for the status quo.

    • @KuK137
      @KuK137 Před 4 lety +4

      @@Merlincat007 That's the thing - lower classes in early 1900s were attacked with far worse propaganda and had no education at all yet were sane and sensible enough to vote for left and NEVER voted for parties of 1%. In a sense, we got too rich and stupid, you can throw a few crumbs to modern idiot and he won't realize rich are keeping 99.9% of the cake...

  • @thefistofshadow7392
    @thefistofshadow7392 Před 4 lety +8

    Im so glad i live in switzerland where leadpipes are mostly replaced and allmost everywhere we use galvanized/stainless steel or plastic pipes.

    • @ricoautosauve7849
      @ricoautosauve7849 Před 4 lety +1

      Even though Switzerland isn’t a member of the EU I believe I think the European market at large has had lead used as a thermal stabilizer in PVC pipes up until about 2019 I think.

    • @mvmlego1212
      @mvmlego1212 Před 4 lety +1

      The video mentioned that, historically, longevity was a huge advantage of lead pipes. Does Switzerland have to replace its pipes every few decades, or did it solve the longevity problem in some other way?

    • @PlasmicDynamite
      @PlasmicDynamite Před 4 lety

      Galvanized steel is kind of terrible for water. It’s good for 20-50 years until it becomes gradually clogged off by the rust buildup inside.

    • @moritamikamikara3879
      @moritamikamikara3879 Před 3 lety +2

      Doesn't plastic degrade fairly quickly?
      Wouldn't you end up with like microplastics in your water?

    • @thefistofshadow7392
      @thefistofshadow7392 Před 3 lety

      In swizerland leadpipes are banned sins 1914 , copper was used for some time but for most lines they use steel or plastic pipes, so there is no lead used in any pipes, unless in some rly old buildings.
      Galvanized steelpipes have no problems with cold water lines, its only a problem if the water is over 60°C.
      But those arent rly used, if you build new waterlines.
      Thats why if you build or renovate
      a building stainless steel and pvc pipes are used.
      PVC Pipes are only used for short connections inside homes and isnt just made out of plastic, it has different layers with different materials.
      And i rater have a little plastic in my water, than a lot more lead.

  • @WarlordToby
    @WarlordToby Před 4 lety +4

    Keep raising awareness on dangers of lead pipes and have officials act on the issue and begin the expensive replacement programs.
    -Me, who happens to work in the field with an excavator (It was a quiet winter)

  • @RunzPwnz
    @RunzPwnz Před 4 lety +2

    What a cheery explanation for something so deadly.

  • @EnterTheBunker
    @EnterTheBunker Před 4 lety +2

    This is why I'm always paranoid about drinking tap water!!!

  • @darkbobblackpants9747
    @darkbobblackpants9747 Před 4 lety +3

    Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Eat lead”

  • @marlonvalckenborgh8689
    @marlonvalckenborgh8689 Před 4 lety +5

    Maybe an important thing to mention as well:
    If it's time to replace lead, what do we use instead?
    The animation seems to suggest gold?
    That would be expensive.

    • @SleepyPanda-co3iy
      @SleepyPanda-co3iy Před 2 lety

      use water filters in taps surely help.

    • @loganwolv3393
      @loganwolv3393 Před rokem

      After carefully examening the video it seems to be ceramic, still lasts 50 years and i've never heared of it being harmful to us ever, i even did a quick google search and yeah it seems to be safe and definently not as expensive as gold, but then again still wayy more expensive than lead and i think harder to mine.

  • @shaider1982
    @shaider1982 Před 3 lety +1

    I rememer reading an article from a late 1960's reader's digest were a family was poisoned by lead from an improperly glazed ceramic pitcher. The pitcher held orange juice whose acidty helped leach the lead out.

  • @c3slayer72
    @c3slayer72 Před 4 lety +70

    Minute earth: plumbers prefer plum bum
    Me: *smirks* plum bum

  • @SandTheNub
    @SandTheNub Před 4 lety +98

    *"Lead is poisonous"*
    Me :
    **Sees title**
    *(Chuckles) I'm in danger*

  • @TheScienceBiome
    @TheScienceBiome Před 4 lety +58

    Me: Reads Title
    Also me: *gulps palpably*

  • @atibamaule
    @atibamaule Před 4 lety +1

    That's why I use the E-Spring water purifier.

  • @jaimepujol5507
    @jaimepujol5507 Před 2 měsíci

    Lovely to see this video when my apartment building is replacing its asbestos piping and lead plumbing

  • @Wyvernnnn
    @Wyvernnnn Před 4 lety +3

    So what metal do we use for pipes now? Brass?

    • @YonasBonas
      @YonasBonas Před 4 lety

      mainly iron, steel, plastic or copper, some brass in fittings and stuff.

  • @oswald7597
    @oswald7597 Před 4 lety +7

    You could say this lead to some problems

  • @05Matz
    @05Matz Před 4 lety

    Thank you for helping explain this to people.

  • @eineriglos7669
    @eineriglos7669 Před 4 lety

    Finally a new video, not a a compilation.

  • @myopinionsarefacts
    @myopinionsarefacts Před 4 lety +15

    It's kinda interesting how things aren't problems until they kill you

    • @daedra40
      @daedra40 Před 4 lety +1

      Truly an existential realization.

    • @ADAJ342
      @ADAJ342 Před 4 lety +3

      Technically they arent *your* problem after that

    • @jasondashney
      @jasondashney Před 4 lety

      Like speeding, alcohol, cheeseburgers, pretty much everything around us.

    • @Providence83
      @Providence83 Před 4 lety +3

      Are they really even problems if they _do_ kill you?

    • @jehiahmaduro6827
      @jehiahmaduro6827 Před 3 lety

      Its called quite literally "the tombstone effect"

  • @guillermojrboy3292
    @guillermojrboy3292 Před 4 lety +15

    0:52 And I thought plumbing came from the word "plumbus". 😢

    • @mencibenci
      @mencibenci Před 4 lety +1

      Guillermo Jr Boy EVERYONE HAS A PLUMBUS IN THEIR HOME.

    • @krissp8712
      @krissp8712 Před 4 lety +2

      Plumbum is Latin for lead anyway?

    • @87mits
      @87mits Před 4 lety +2

      @@krissp8712 it's a Rick & Morty reference...

    • @decidiousrex
      @decidiousrex Před 4 lety

      @@mencibenci So true. I wonder how they're made though

  • @DemitriVladMaximov
    @DemitriVladMaximov Před 4 lety +1

    Wasn't the issue with Flint that they also switched which processing plant was handling their water supply and the cleaning agents they used at the new location actively broke down the mineral build-up in the pipes?

  • @briangarrow448
    @briangarrow448 Před 4 lety +2

    I've worked in the water and wastewater treatment industries for over 40 years. Everywhere I have worked has a standard of removing lead from systems whenever it is found.

  • @tntg5
    @tntg5 Před 4 lety +4

    That voice though 🥶

  • @multigamerinfinite
    @multigamerinfinite Před 4 lety +28

    "Plumb" means lead in romanian

    • @ethanfoo9154
      @ethanfoo9154 Před 4 lety +9

      FMultiGamerInfinite because Romanian is a latin language?

    • @user-jd9sj1mq2b
      @user-jd9sj1mq2b Před 4 lety +4

      And "plomo" in spanish

    • @cosmopoiesecriandomundos7446
      @cosmopoiesecriandomundos7446 Před 4 lety +2

      @@ethanfoo9154 Yeah, but that's not a cognate in all of them. In Portuguese it's called "chumbo", not at all similar.

    • @FrogsOfTheSea
      @FrogsOfTheSea Před 4 lety +4

      A arte de criar mundos but chumbos does derive from plumbum, and therefore is technically cognate

    • @rscervin9950
      @rscervin9950 Před 4 lety +1

      Corect,si totuși noi nu cred ca folosim țevi de plumb in orașe

  • @FRY524
    @FRY524 Před 3 měsíci +1

    The Flint Michigan thing was really undersold in this video. It was a disaster that the state government forced the city to endure for years.

  • @mariustan9275
    @mariustan9275 Před 3 lety

    I see it would be safer but the thing is what material are we going to replace Plumbum with?

  • @helplmchoking
    @helplmchoking Před 4 lety +6

    Not sure what this “we” is all about, no lead pipes where I come from!

  • @ShankarSivarajan
    @ShankarSivarajan Před 4 lety +4

    1:48 Yay Baltimore!

  • @abrumm87
    @abrumm87 Před 4 lety +1

    @MinuteEarth small but important correction: Flint wasn’t caused by the lack of adding something. A new, more acidic source of water cause the solubilization of the protection lead carbonate layer, this exposing the lead. Albeit, one could argue that a neutralizing agent (carbonate) wasn’t added, and I’m quite possibly making too fine of a point, but I just thought I would add a slight clarification

  • @franzypantzy
    @franzypantzy Před 4 lety

    A great and very awesome documentary video! Work harder- oh wait...
    Right now, you have: 2.34M subs!
    Congrats!
    (Don’t forget i subbed too!)

  • @geekjokes8458
    @geekjokes8458 Před 4 lety +10

    can filtering, specially "post-faucet" reduce the lead amount?
    i know, it isnt *everyones* responsibility to buy a filter a care only about themselves, but its a start
    also, what would we replace our pipes with?

    • @87mits
      @87mits Před 4 lety +5

      Plastic.
      Don't know about the filtering, it's probably lead ions. You could use a form of ion exchange. Or you could make it form insoluble salts and filter those. Both those solutions rely on something that runs out.

    • @Pheatrix
      @Pheatrix Před 4 lety +6

      @@87mits
      Plastic is not necessarily the best option as it does not protect against permeation.
      It pretty much doesn't matter what we use, it will be the wrong choice anyway.
      www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/permeationandleaching.pdf

    • @MGSLurmey
      @MGSLurmey Před 4 lety

      @@Pheatrix What about steel? We use it literally everywhere else in construction, why not pipes too? Manufacturing technologies have come a long way so the ductility of lead is nowhere near as much of an advantage over steel anymore. We can make stainless steel so it doesn't rust due to the water, and it would last significantly longer than almost any other material (bar perhaps titanium or tungsten). It should be perfectly safe for the water, considering we use stainless steel to eat and cook with every day, and it could even be buried in concrete to protect against loose joints and thus leaks, since the thermal expansion rate of steel is so close to that of concrete.
      The only disadvantage I can think of is cost, but spread across a long enough timespan and the cost is a non-issue. Better to slowly replace all the lead pipes than never replace them, right?

    • @Pheatrix
      @Pheatrix Před 4 lety +7

      @@MGSLurmey
      Stainless steel contains chrome to prevent corrosion. And chrome is toxic. Water gets contaminated when in contact with stainless steel. This takes a long time in order to get to high levels but it might be a problem if you replace all of the piping? I'm not really an expert on this.
      But there is another issue: Many countries chlorinate their water to make sure it is bacteria free. And stainless steel can rust in such conditions. And this rust accelerates the growth of bacteria.
      www.researchgate.net/publication/238769394_Unexpected_corrosion_of_stainless_steel_in_low_chloride_waters_-_microbial_aspects

    • @archmad
      @archmad Před 4 lety +1

      Maybe use gold

  • @crusador84
    @crusador84 Před 4 lety +4

    This explains a lot about the US

  • @PyroJohn19
    @PyroJohn19 Před 4 lety

    Question, can't they use say an aluminum tube to snake into the lead pipes? As a barrier between the lead and water?

  • @falxie_
    @falxie_ Před 3 lety

    What are uses for all that lead once we replace the piping?

  • @coreytaylor447
    @coreytaylor447 Před 4 lety +5

    I wonder if lead poisoning can cause mental health problems like borderline personality disorder because that would explain a lot in america

    • @roxasparks
      @roxasparks Před 4 lety

      Do some research

    • @benalor1973
      @benalor1973 Před 4 lety

      Personality disorder was not listed for what lead can cause for mental illness but it can in fact due brain damage however it must be in insane amounts for it to happen.

  • @cageybee7221
    @cageybee7221 Před 4 lety +55

    with the amount we spend on lead pipe lining minerals in water, and on medical bills when that fails (or taxes in civilized countries), we could afford to replace the pipes. we should replace the pipes. not only would replacing the pipes save lives and money in the long run it would also give people jobs for years which is what we really need right now.

    • @billybobjoe198
      @billybobjoe198 Před 4 lety +18

      I don't think you have any idea the scale of replacing centuries of buried infrastructure.
      For a ball park, it would cost around 3 trillion dollars to replace the supplies from the street for every home in America.
      The mains, which run almost exclusively under roads, and sometimes buildings, are far more costly per foot to replace. It could easily get into the hundreds of trillions of dollars.
      I'm fine.
      You're fine.
      Our parents were fine.
      Their parents were fine.
      We'll be okay doing things sensibly. This isn't an emergency.
      Also fun fact, antimony, the main lead substitute, has identical poisoning symptoms to lead.
      Kind of like fiberglass doing exactly what asbestos does.
      We spend untold trillions freaking out about nonissues, only to often time makes things the same, or sometimes worse.

    • @bcubed72
      @bcubed72 Před 4 lety +5

      Go to Gulag, commie.
      Lead has been used safely for millennia, by people who aren't complete and utter idiots. It's only when you have incompetent dumbasses running things, that you have problems.(So I can understand why a commie would have problems...in Communism, incompetent dumbasses are ALWAYS running things!)
      P.S. If you're the sort who thinks that "pH" stands for "Pizza Hut"...you probably shouldn't be running a public water works. Save the patronage jobs for people who draw a paycheck and spend all day banging the secretary...less chance of hurting someone that way!

    • @Magmafrost13
      @Magmafrost13 Před 4 lety +13

      @@bcubed72 Yeah Flint Michigan sure is communist...

    • @LegoCookieDoggie
      @LegoCookieDoggie Před 4 lety +2

      That's why western philosophy is doomed we only look out for ourselves were all going to have lead in our bellies consequences to action or lack of action

    • @chiblast100x
      @chiblast100x Před 4 lety +3

      We are replacing the pipes. The only difference is we're doing it piecemeal over around a hundred years or so, that is the absolute effect of a ban on placing new lead pipe. Were we to try to perform an all at once upgrade (and lets ignore the immediate costs of labor, materials and equipment here) we'd still be spending a 20 to 30 year period disrupting critical infrastructure such as roads and water supply to all homes, businesses and municipal buildings in a rolling wave.

  • @derfdot
    @derfdot Před 4 lety +1

    This is quite the Leading discovery!

  • @advanceringnewholder
    @advanceringnewholder Před 4 lety

    MinuteEarth. Educating us a pun at a time!!

  • @Detahramet
    @Detahramet Před 4 lety +3

    Lead would be such an amazing material if it weren't poisonous. It makes fuel higher octane and thus can be used more efficiently, it makes great paint, its a no-calorie sweetener, it makes great plumbing, its super maleable, and of course it will kill.

    • @PlasmicDynamite
      @PlasmicDynamite Před 4 lety

      deathtamer666 Honestly, these days it would only be a hinderance to have on modern plumbing systems.

    • @praseosdidymos8152
      @praseosdidymos8152 Před 4 lety

      Also Lead zirconium titanate has a strong piezoelectric effect and is used for instance in pressure sensors and vibrators in mobiles for instance

  • @smurfyday
    @smurfyday Před 4 lety +8

    Money corrupts, just like power. No, I don't mean tends to.

    • @ataarono
      @ataarono Před 4 lety

      No poor and powerless people are just as corrupted. Tho they don't have the means of showing it to the world so you might think they aren't corrupted. If you want to run a successful business you need to be more trustable than your average pleb and so the rich are actually a more positive tip of the huge iceberg that is human corruption.

  • @mukrifachri
    @mukrifachri Před 4 lety

    Are there a comprehensive map of where they still remain ? Or is it near-directly related to how old the plumbing system is ?

  • @AnnCatsanndra
    @AnnCatsanndra Před 4 lety +2

    I thought sponsored videos had to be disclosed at the start of the video for legal compliance? Or does that only apply to videos that are ads?

    • @emielverbeeren8181
      @emielverbeeren8181 Před 4 lety

      It might be like that in the UK, but this is an American channel right?

  • @TheFuturistTom
    @TheFuturistTom Před 4 lety +12

    I've been watching Minute Earth for years. I liked their videos. That is why I decided to create my own sci-fi/futurist Channel. 👍🙂

  • @skyvenrazgriz8226
    @skyvenrazgriz8226 Před 4 lety +6

    Isnt lead poisoning in young ppl causing harm to developing cognitiv functions? If so, there you have your answer for the US, keeping them stupid is excatly what the gov like, just combine it with the US education system and you get what you deserve...

  • @shalomsam5362
    @shalomsam5362 Před 4 lety

    Can't we add some kind of protective layer inside the lead pipe ?

  • @desmondbaptiste861
    @desmondbaptiste861 Před 4 lety

    So what would be an ideal replacement for lead?

  • @rossplendent
    @rossplendent Před 4 lety +3

    At 1:44, you show Baltimore with non-lead plumbing, yet lead poisoning is a serious concern here, to the point where scientists have been able to track the strong correlation between lead blood levels and crime. Lead poisoning causes learning disorders, emotional instability, and leads to poor mental health outcomes, and it is destroying our city.

  • @TimB.1998
    @TimB.1998 Před 4 lety +3

    Love that cost & practicality was valued over human life & safety

  • @ucitymetalhead
    @ucitymetalhead Před 4 lety

    I'm usually happy to see my hometown mentioned in a video but not so much in this case.

  • @Mintews
    @Mintews Před 4 lety +1

    As an uruguayan i did not know we banned it so late! Im surprised

  • @lukasnovella9001
    @lukasnovella9001 Před 4 lety +13

    The government: if they get poisoned, they get poisoned. Now... what kind of Yacht should I buy?

    • @thomasdahl3083
      @thomasdahl3083 Před 4 lety

      Buy the sailboat you can afford.

    • @moritamikamikara3879
      @moritamikamikara3879 Před 3 lety

      REEEEEEEEE GET OUT GOVERNMENT REEEEEEEE!!!

    • @bananya6020
      @bananya6020 Před 3 lety +1

      to be fair presidents / pm's actually make a surprisingly little amount of money in most countries compared to how highly they're regarded.

    • @lukasnovella9001
      @lukasnovella9001 Před 3 lety

      bananya It was less “The President Makes too much money” and more “If you have the resources to become president, you are more then likely WAY richer then you should be”
      (I live in America so, well, you know”

    • @bananya6020
      @bananya6020 Před 3 lety +1

      @@lukasnovella9001 i was writing to the comment directly
      but yeah every political figure makes a surprisingly large (and/or small, depending on context) amount of money for how much bullshitting they all do

  • @Kyrus86
    @Kyrus86 Před 4 lety +5

    Wasn't lead linked to higher aggressiveness as well?
    Are there studies about the usage of lead pipes and violence in countries?

    • @garret1930
      @garret1930 Před 4 lety +1

      I'm going to sound facetious, but you have access to something really cool called Google scholar. Just look up your question and you'll find loads of scientific papers written on basically whatever you're interested in. Many of the actual papers are behind paywalls so if you _really_ want to read the paper you can copy the doi and paste it into a website called sci-hub
      Boom: you now have free access to almost the entire repository of human scientific research.

  • @ATSucks1
    @ATSucks1 Před 4 lety

    I don't share videos too often,.... I'm sharing this one.

  • @Eucalypticaz
    @Eucalypticaz Před 4 lety +1

    Can we have an hour video of that background music please.👌

  • @LowellMorgan
    @LowellMorgan Před 4 lety +3

    1:09 ಠ_ಠ

  • @theluminousone5883
    @theluminousone5883 Před 4 lety +13

    Isnt flint still polluted?

    • @Cadwaladr
      @Cadwaladr Před 4 lety +10

      The government says it isn't, but a lot of people, understandably, don't trust them.

    • @ballpython3310
      @ballpython3310 Před 4 lety +1

      shouldn't be, they switched back to the water that was making the scaling. Right?

    • @cornwalldonnahue6512
      @cornwalldonnahue6512 Před 4 lety +3

      Cadwaladr i live here. The water is fine the only problem is the older houses and pipes that have not been replaced. When you drive around you still see tons of bottled water just sitting around unused

  • @reeceoshaney5971
    @reeceoshaney5971 Před 3 lety

    A bout a year ago I went to Duluth MN and the hotel I was at had a pipe burst and the water above level 8 or so had lead poisoning

  • @max05z4
    @max05z4 Před 3 lety +1

    Soo what matereal for pluming now

  • @chrono-glitchwaterlily8776

    Kate, you are my favorite narrator just because you sound the most passionate to me

  • @Owen_loves_Butters
    @Owen_loves_Butters Před 3 lety +4

    It’s not just about the cost and difficulty, it’s about the inconvenience of replacing all plumbing in the world

  • @sillyjobbernowl
    @sillyjobbernowl Před 4 lety

    What's the ideal replacement? It wasn't mentioned in the video as it should've.

  • @techno1561
    @techno1561 Před 4 lety

    Given how long lead lasts compared to the alternatives, are there any other pipe materials that have similar durability?

    • @PlasmicDynamite
      @PlasmicDynamite Před 4 lety

      techno156 Nothing that isn’t incredibly rare and expensive

  • @dshcfh
    @dshcfh Před 4 lety +6

    @MinuteEarth
    Call out specific politicians by name or get used to aimlessly complaining to the void.

  • @TheScienceBiome
    @TheScienceBiome Před 4 lety +14

    Listening to this just made 2020 a lot worse

  • @BlueEngland
    @BlueEngland Před 3 lety

    *Lead* the way, MinuteEarth!

  • @bendoverson4738
    @bendoverson4738 Před 4 lety

    So what can we use instead?

  • @randomguy263
    @randomguy263 Před 4 lety +4

    0:21 That guy kinda look like an old version of my chemistry teacher.

  • @vulpinecatastrophe9377
    @vulpinecatastrophe9377 Před 4 lety +6

    Me upon seeing the title as someone who drinks tap water everyday: I’m sorry we WHAT

  • @cinnamonsugarcourtney6073

    We have naturally hard water here, lots of limestone and aquatic fossils are here too, finding small horn coral and shell fossils is super common, you can just go to a river and find one in minutes in a stone deposit. So I don't much worry about our water.

  • @raixbox360
    @raixbox360 Před 4 lety

    nice wording and phrasing used in this video

  • @Mormodes
    @Mormodes Před 4 lety +8

    This video is so dark, but with such an upbeat tone. Businesses that purposefully lobby against the best interests of people just to save their company should have the company shut down and the leaders of it charged for murder.

  • @user-yl4hb8dg9l
    @user-yl4hb8dg9l Před 4 lety +13

    the ammount of puns in this video makes me want to jam a lead pipe through my head. Nice informative video though! keep up the good work!

  • @coolmasterx5707
    @coolmasterx5707 Před 4 lety

    What is the alternative to lead pipes though?

  • @dryued6874
    @dryued6874 Před 4 lety +1

    I always wondered how plumbums were made.