OAN Staff Avril Elfie
6:30pm – Tuesday, December 3, 2024
A new study has found that childhood exposure to lead in gasoline has led to millions of excess mental illnesses over the past 75 years.
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On Wednesday, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published a study detailing the lasting effects by analyzing blood lead levels in children in the United States from 1940 to 2015.
Lead was banned from motor fuels in 1996.
The study found that more than 151 million people in the nation experienced excess mental health problems associated with exposure to lead from car exhaust during early childhood development.
Exposure reportedly increased depression and anxiety, increased inattention and hyperactivity in the generation, and led to ADD and ADHD. They also found that people generally have less impulse control and are more likely to be neurotic.
The study highlights the long-term mental health and personality effects associated with lead exposure, particularly for individuals born between 1966 and 1986, with Generation X, those born between 1966 and 1970, having the highest facing a huge burden. This period coincided with the peak use of leaded gasoline, resulting in a significant increase in environmental and personal lead exposure.
“People who were born in that era can't go back and change things,” said postdoctoral researcher Aaron Ruben, co-author of the study.
“Studies like ours today provide further evidence that there are more benefits to removing lead from our environment and not putting it in the environment in the first place than we previously understood. I will add that,” Ruben said.
Although lead is no longer found in gasoline, it can still be found in other sources, such as toys imported from abroad, water pipes that have not been updated, and the soil and paint in some older pre-1978 homes. Included.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there is “no safe level” of lead exposure. The CDC also reported that exposure to lead is known to harm the brain, nervous system, and reproductive system, so even small amounts of lead are associated with developmental and learning disabilities.
The study combined data on blood lead levels and estimates of historical lead exposure with results from previous studies, including one that followed lead-exposed children over 30 years and It also includes a 2019 study of around 600 New Zealand residents that measured their mental health.
“The new study does not produce new information about whether lead causes harm, nor does it say that this is a study that proves causation. In fact, we are taking existing evidence and , we're just applying it to the entire U.S. population,” Ruben said.
“We are not at all concerned that we are somehow overestimating the damage,” he added.
Ruben also said prevention is the best way to keep people safe.
“We've done a lot of good in the United States by reducing lead exposure. Blood lead levels have fallen considerably, and they could fall even further.” “I want to learn from history about how much harm we have caused America and try to apply that learning in the future.”
Lead was originally added to gasoline to improve engine performance. The use of leaded gas increased after World War II until it was found to be harmful to catalytic converters and became mandatory in the 1970s. Although some of the dangers of lead were known long before its use in gasoline was banned, reducing exposure to lead has not been a federal priority for many years.
Screening for lead is now recommended for all young children, and treatment options include chelation therapy to remove the toxin if levels are high.
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