Flint Families Traumatized By The Damaging Possibilities Of Lead Poisoning

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - Doctors in Flint are seeing concerned parents wondering if their child will have health problems because of lead exposure.

So what are doctors telling them?

WWJ health reporter Dr. Deanna Lites spoke with the doctor credited with exposing the problem.

Unborn babies, newborns and young children are most vulnerable to lead in water.

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician with Hurley Medical Center in Flint and was first to speak out about the elevated lead levels in the blood of children in Flint.

"They come into the clinic and they are absolutely traumatized - you look in these families' eyes and they don't know what is going to happen to their kids - in five, ten, fifteen, twenty years," says Hanna-Attisha.

"What we do as pediatricians is reassurance, we tell them that not every kid is going to have every problem. But you need to love them and hug them and read to them and talk to them and stimulate their brains and put them in preschool and give them great nutrician."

Lead poisoning affects every organ system and can lead to a number of health problems in kids, including: developmental delays, speech and language difficulties, damage to the nervous system and behavioral problems.

Flint's tap water became contaminated with too much lead after the city switched its water supply in 2014 to save money while under state financial management. Local officials first declared a public health emergency in October in response to tests that showed children with elevated levels of lead.