USA Today this past weekend reported in the wake of the current water crisis in Flint, Michigan that an estimated six million Americans have drinking water contaminated with much higher levels of lead than allowed by federal guidelines. The AFP via Yahoo! News reports that the crisis in Flint may only be the tip of the proverbial lead-tainted-water-crisis “iceberg”: With the nation focused on a major crisis in Flint, Michigan, where lead from aging pipes leached into the municipal water supply, the newspaper launched an investigation which found higher than acceptable lead levels in about 2,000 water systems across the United States. Tainted water was supplied to hundreds of daycare centers and schools, the report said. Children are the population most vulnerable to the pernicious effects of lead, a toxin which affects the neurological system and can lead to permanent learning delays and behavioral problems. Higher than allowed lead levels were found in all 50 US states, USA Today reported. A sample of water drawn from one elementary school in Maine found lead levels some 42 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency limit of 15 parts per billion, while a preschool in Pennsylvania recorded lead levels 14 times higher than allowed. [...]