Lead in American Children Causes Crime?

Following the release of a recent study showing a link between lead exposure during child development and later violent crime, the CDC just reported that lead levels in a half million American children is too high.

What's the deal with lead & crime?

"The biggest source of lead [since World War II], it turns out, wasn't paint. It was leaded gasoline. And if you chart the rise and fall of atmospheric lead caused by the rise and fall of leaded gasoline consumption, you get a pretty simple upside-down U: Lead emissions from tailpipes rose steadily from the early '40s through the early '70s, nearly quadrupling over that period. Then, as unleaded gasoline began to replace leaded gasoline, emissions plummeted.

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lead emissions from automobiles explain 90 percent of the variation in violent crime in America

... if you add a lag time of 23 years, lead emissions from automobiles explain 90 percent of the variation in violent crime in America. Toddlers who ingested high levels of lead in the '40s and '50s really were more likely to become violent criminals in the '60s, '70s, and '80s." - motherjones.com

The good news on violent crime

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