Michael Hiltzik: Republican states would rather keep poisoning children with lead than pay for a fix

Here are a few things we know about lead in drinking water:

-- There is no known safe level. More than a decade ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ceased setting minimum acceptable standards for children's blood lead levels.

That was because scientific studies couldn't identify any concentration that didn't have "deleterious effects" on children's health. The only proper approach, the CDC said, is prevention "to ensure that no children in the U.S." face any exposure to lead.

-- Removing all the sources of lead exposure is expensive, but over the long term a sound investment, for it eliminates long-term effects that lead to massive healthcare costs, cognitive deficits and higher crime rates.

-- Children in low-income and minority neighborhoods are the most seriously affected,, but it was the tip of the iceberg.