Lead in gasoline blunted IQ of half the U.S. population, study says
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Exposure to leaded gasoline lowered the IQ of about half the population of the United States, a new study estimates.
The peer-reviewed study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on people born before 1996 — the year the U.S. banned gas containing lead.
Overall, the researchers from Florida State University and Duke University found, childhood lead exposure cost America an estimated 824 million points, or 2.6 points per person on average.
Certain cohorts were more affected than others. For people born in the 1960s and the 1970s, when leaded gas consumption was skyrocketing, the IQ loss was estimated to be up to 6 points and for some, more than 7 points. Exposure to it came primarily from inhaling auto exhaust.
The team behind the study used gas consumption data, population estimates and other data to calculate that as of 2015, more than 170 million Americans had had blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter in their early childhood years.
Lead is a neurotoxin, and no amount of it is safe. Currently, 3.5 micrograms per deciliter is the reference value for blood lead levels to be considered high; the acceptable amount was once higher.
Principal study author Michael McFarland, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University and a faculty member of the university's Center for Demography and Population Health, called the number of people affected by lead exposure "staggering."
"This is important because we often think about lead as an issue for children, and of course it is," he said. "But what we really wanted to know is what happens to those children who were exposed?"
In many cases, McFarland said, a 2 to 3 point IQ difference is nominal, unless an individual is on the lower side of IQ distribution.
"If you're more toward cognitive impairment, a couple points can mean a lot," he said.
But on a population basis, shifting the average IQ down even a small amount could have large consequences, said Sung Kyun Park, an associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. The entire bell curve shifts, he explained, with more of the population at what was once the extreme low end of IQ scores.
Lead used to be added to gasoline to help engines run more smoothly until other, safer additives replaced it. In addition to being linked to lower IQs, it has also been associated with heart and kidney disease.
Flint Children Tested For Lead
Lead can be inhaled or ingested, with children particularly susceptible to its poisonous effects. Children's blood lead levels have been dramatically lowered in the U.S. in recent decades, but lead exposure still happens, and Black children are exposed more often than white children. Monday's study, too, estimated that most Black adults under age 45 experienced "considerably higher" levels of blood lead levels in early life than their white counterparts.
The racial disparities are generally due to environmental contamination and infrastructure issues that affect drinking water in low-income and minority neighborhoods, with the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, one of the most egregious examples in recent years.
And while children are the most vulnerable to getting very ill from lead, the toxin's damage can show up years later, Park said. Lead exposure is believed to put people at risk for chronic and age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease and dementia.
"Lead is a never-ending story," he said.
There are medical interventions available for children who have recently been exposed to high amounts of lead, but those wouldn't work for adults born before 1996. Still, the study findings should not be a major cause for concern, McFarland said.
"There are a host of things that go into IQ," he said. "This is one that is obviously negative, but if you also have a nurturing home environment, that helped your IQ."
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I can't get a MENSA membership because of leaded gasoline
Don't feel bad, you are still 15 or so points ahead of millennials.
Weren't they born after the lead ban?
Yes they were, they can't blame the loss of IQ on lead. According to the article below:
"Scientists point the finger, in part, at the difference in the way math and languages are taught in schools. Other possible culprits include poorer education systems, ubiquitous technologies that consume peoples’ attention, and a change in diets and nutrition "
But my favorite by far:
"Adding to the problem of dropping intelligence levels is the fact that people who are not very smart actually think they are. We all know people who fit this description. Known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, named after the psychologists who documented it, in scientific speak it’s a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their knowledge or ability."
I bypassed MENSA and am now a proud member of ''MENSA PLUS'' we're a digit above.
The only problem is when you get older you'll have to go through "MENSA PAUSE"...
BBBOOOOOO! GROAN! AAARRRGGGHH!
(I am just upset that I did not think of that)
Actually, I'm way past the age that MENSA PAUSE would affect me...
I didn't quite make MENSA (maybe because of the leaded gas), but my brother, who was born in 1933 certainly did - stood first in his high school graduation class (more than 300 students) and never had to pay university tuitions because of scholarships.
Not being MENSA, I don't intend to pause.
Was born in 54 and am sure I ate lead-based paint.
Still was accepted into Mensa and got tired of them.
Entirely possible that they ate more of it than I did.
Why the hell did we nibble on paint chips in the first place?!
I remember being in places where you could see the lead paint peeling off the walls. It was always tempting to grab a piece and peel it off.
kids who ate paint chips are known as "pica" children...they can't resist putting things in their mouths. Also, I think those paint chips were sweet tasting
This may help to explain the miserable failure of the Boomer generation.
.
"The drop in IQ is generally thought to have begun with those born in the mid-70s and has not reversed itself. Research shows the IQ scores of young people are now dropping by seven points every generation. Seven points is a lot, especially when the average IQ score in the United States is 98, according to World Population Review."
Not a failure, just an underachiever by choice. Already have a ton of money.
I took an online IQ test a few weeks ago, filled it all out for about 20-30minutes, got to the end only to see that they wanted 25 dollars as well as a monthly subscription to something before they would allow me to see the results. Boy was I dumb. Maybe that was the result.
Had fun with the same online scam once. Just out of curiosity. Didn't give them anything.
These quizzes can actually be good for mental health. Stretch your brain.
Haven't had anything to do with MENSA for many years now. Don't agree with their parameters.
How about my movie quizzes?
Don't watch many movies.
Don't watch TV.
My real life is all the excitement I can handle.
Unless you knew someone's IQ sans lead ingestion, how could you know they had lost anything?
I guess you are just supposed to believe it if it says it is a study, it makes it sound so official. /S
Wish I hadn't read this.
It was much better when I didn't miss what I now want to miss.
P.S. paint chips tasted good!
I feel like there should be some (perhaps monthly) government compensation for all this. I’m particularly afflicted and dumb as a bag of hammers. I’m sure many members would be willing to corroborate my claim.
I am here for you. A biiiiiig fucking bag of hammers. And I should know because I am as dumb as a box of nails.
I don't think either one of you are as dumb as a bag of hammers
Thanks but you obviously have not talked to my wife about me.
She's a wife. I don't always praise my husband's intelligence, either
Pretty sure that a class action suit is in order here.
You're not near as dumb as you used to be.
I liked the old vine slogan "get smarter here".
MAGA explained.
Long ago I worked at a rayon factory. Many of the older production machines were made out of lead. The craft that did lead work, called leadburners, were strange. A major rule was no eating or smoking in the lead shop or going through there as a shortcut.
I now have a Civil War era bullet on my desk...made of lead. Courtesy of a co-worker. However, it doesn't look like lead.
Early civil war bullets were pure lead. Later they had a tin alloy as rifling advanced.
It's pretty heavy. At first I thought it was carved from a rock that's how eroded it is
A lot of what's in the seed is true. Of course, the reason it is here to be read is to keep trying to persuade people to use public transportation or buy expensive electric cars, just like Biden's green energy policy intends to force them to do.
To be filed under sophisticated propaganda.