Author

Niara Savage

Niara Savage

Niara Savage is a reporting fellow with NPR Midwest Newsroom and The Missouri Independent. Formerly an intern with St. Louis Public Radio, she’s especially interested in race, education and criminal justice. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fisk University.

Signs lining Highway 32 protest a proposed silica mine that would span 249 acres in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. (Niara Savage/ Missouri Independent)

Fight over silica mine rekindles fears about Missouri’s Old Lead Belt

By: - August 29, 2022

Pickle Creek runs two miles through Ste. Genevieve County’s sandstone valleys. It carries some of Missouri’s cleanest water, but residents worry that could change if NexGen Silica gets full approval to mine sandstone on a 249-acre plot of land along nearby Highway 32. They don’t have to look very far to see the outcome they […]

Historic lead mining and smelting in the Midwest left behind toxic levels of lead in soil that pose a health threat to locals when rain causes the toxin to spread. (Crysta Henthorne/KCUR)

Kansas, Nebraska researchers use plants to limit exposure to toxic lead in soil

By: - August 8, 2022

In parts of the Midwest where lead mining and smelting lasted for over a century, communities are still dealing with toxic waste left behind by the industry. Lead, a dangerous neurotoxin, persists in the environment, including in water and soil, where it can pose a threat to the health of people living nearby. The risk […]

Vintage and new items from discount stores pose a lead risk to consumers and are especially dangerous for children who often put their hands in their mouths. (Illustration by Brian Munoz and Samantha Horton)

Items with lead are easy to find at antique shops, discount stores. They’re also toxic.

By: and - July 25, 2022

A vintage military-style trunk she bought at an eastern Michigan flea market when she was a teenager became a staple of Jennifer Poupard’s life. Poupard, now 37, originally bought it to store her CDs. Over the years the trunk — styled with leather handles and metal buckles — served as a container for shoes, a […]

The lead industry characterized lead poisoning as a problem for poor people and minorities despite mounting evidence of its toxicity. (Illustration by David White)

How the lead industry misled the public about its toxic problem for decades  

By: - May 31, 2022

Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin. Researchers have known that for decades. But the substance stuck around in everyday products like paint and gasoline for decades. One big reason: The lead industry spent years using racial bias to divert public attention away from the dangers of the toxin and minimized the impact of mounting evidence indicating […]

Lisa Pascoe with her 2-year-old daughter on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at their home in Clarkson Valley, Missouri. (Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio)

Known to be toxic for a century, lead still poisons thousands of Midwestern kids

By: and - April 11, 2022

CLARKSON VALLEY, Mo. — When the pediatrician recommended Lisa Pascoe have her then-toddler tested for lead poisoning, she thought there was no way he could be at risk. Everything in her South St. Louis home had been remodeled. But then the nurse called to say her son’s blood lead level was dangerously high — five […]

Missouri House bill would cut down on poisonous lead in school drinking water

By: and - March 29, 2022

Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to  require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin. The bill, heard Monday by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where lead is […]