After a study by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician with Hurley Children’s Hospital, has linked use of the Flint River as a drinking water source to elevated blood lead levels in children, state officials said they are wasting no time on considering the issue.

Data has shown that blood lead levels in Flint remained fairly steady among children under 16 years old ever since the city switched from Lake Huron water to the river, said Angela Minicuci, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Minicuci said in a statement that the department is presently reviewing the results presented by Dr. Hanna-Attisha. According to Minicuci, the data they collected during their study do not match with that of the Dr. Hanna-Attisha.

Hanna-Attisha said, “My research shows that lead levels have gone up. I cannot say it’s from the water, but that’s the thing that has happened”.

Hurley doctor recommends switching away from Flint River water. Hanna-Attisha, for the study, used blood data from 1,746 Flint children, about one-half of whom had lead levels tested from January to mid-September in 2013 and the other half during the same time period in 2015.

Minicuci said the state's data on lead in blood is more comprehensive and much more accurate. She said seasonal changes have tended to caused fluctuations of lead levels in Flint, both before and after the change in water source.

Flint City Administrator Natasha Henderson said city officials are working with Flint's medical community to ensure safe drinking water.