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Could that be due to the long decline of blood lead levels after the phase-out of unleaded gasoline?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7969125/#t2

Incredible that lead in the water had such a relatively small effect, though.

People were complaining to the city council about water quality 8 months after the switch to the water source that caused high water lead levels (and were likely concerned well before that).

The lead isn't an immediate problem if the water chemistry is correctly maintained, the pipes develop scale and there isn't a lot of material being dissolved into the water. The presence of lead infrastructure of course requires that the water chemistry be correctly maintained so that it does not disturb the pipe scale.

So it can be the case that the total exposure from the problem was somewhat limited.

This is blood lead levels in children, so it more likely exposure at home through things like lead paint.

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