Childhood Lead Exposure in Americans in 1960-1970 Results to Below Average IQ

When researchers examined the use of leaded gas from 1940 and integrated it with data on blood-lead levels from the mid-1970s, they found that over 54 percent of Americans alive in 2015 have had dangerous led exposure levels as children.

A ScienceAlert report said that according to new research, childhood lead exposure in the United States is universal and much more alarming than past approximations have proposed.

Lead Exposure May Have Lowered The IQ of Half of Americans Since 1940 https://t.co/UsPDnYlnOR
— ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) March 10, 2022

The percentage mentioned is more than 170 million who are now at greater risk of cardiovascular problems, neurodegenerative disease, and mental illness due to the lead they inhaled, absorbed or ingested during childhood.

No level of exposure to lead is safe at any point in an individual's life, although this highly poisonous material can be particularly detrimental for kids as it can obstruct the development of the brain, resulting in permanent learning difficulties and behavioral problems.

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(Photo: SEYLLOU/AFP via Getty Images)
This picture shows a car with smoke coming from the exhaust pipe.

Below-Average IQ

Overall, the study authors estimated that leaded gas had reduced the cumulative IQ score of 824 million points, almost three points a person.

That's only the average, this report indicated. People born in the 1960s and 1970s, when the use of leaded gas was reaching a peak, could have lost an average of six to seven IQ points. The lead exposure of the group was eight times over health limits at present.

For most people, such impacts are not easily noticed, although, for some who have below-average cognitive ability, it can result in a diagnosis of "intellectual disability."

According to Michael McFarland, a sociologist from Florida State University, he was "frankly shocked." He added that he's still shocked when he looks at the numbers even though he is prepared for it.

Ever since the US government prohibited leaded gasoline for vehicles in 1996, childhood lead exposure has slowly dropped. Yet, there are still a lot of Americans alive today, who are facing the consequence of their upbringing.

Lead Exposure

Kids born beyond 1996 have lower blood-lead levels compared to their parents and grandparents, although compared to generations prior to the preindustrial era, their exposure to lead is still much higher.

In addition, there are thousands of communities in the US, like Flint, Michigan, for one, that continues to suffer the legacy of unlimited use of lead of the nation, and the racial differences are blunt.

For instance, Black adults above 45 years old were found to have substantially higher blood-lead levels than White counterparts, which was true even for people born after 1996.

Authors of the study published in the PNAS journal are currently examining the long-term consequences of that exposure and if it can account for racial differences in health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, kidney disease, and dementia.

FSU's Aeron Reuben, a clinical psychologist, said, "Millions of us are walking around" with a history of exposure to lead. He added it's not like one gets into a car accident and had a rotator cuff tear that heals, and then eventually, he's fine.

It seems to be an insult carried in the body in different ways, Reuben continued, that they're still trying to decipher although it can have consequences for life, a similar Florida Digital News report specified.