America's Real Criminal Element: Lead

[Mika]

Lead Poisoning Linked to Violent Crime

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline

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[2on2u]

1. Prenatal methylmercury, postnatal lead exposure

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23008274

Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Oct;120(10):1456-61. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1204976. Epub 2012 Aug 16.
Prenatal methylmercury, postnatal lead exposure, and evidence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder among Inuit children in Arctic Québec.
Boucher O, Jacobson SW, Plusquellec P, Dewailly E, Ayotte P, Forget-Dubois N, Jacobson JL, Muckle G.
Source

Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Québec, Québec, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:

Prenatal exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been associated with impaired performance on attention tasks in previous studies, but the extent to which these cognitive deficits translate into behavioral problems in the classroom and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) remains unknown. By contrast, lead (Pb) exposure in childhood has been associated with ADHD and disruptive behaviors in several studies.
OBJECTIVES:

In this study we examined the relation of developmental exposure to MeHg, PCBs, and Pb to behavioral problems at school age in Inuit children exposed through their traditional diet.
METHODS:

In a prospective longitudinal study conducted in the Canadian Arctic, exposure to contaminants was measured at birth and at school age. An assessment of child behavior (n = 279; mean age = 11.3 years) was obtained from the child's classroom teacher on the Teacher Report Form (TRF) from the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (DBD).
RESULTS:

Cord blood mercury concentrations were associated with higher TRF symptom scores for attention problems and DBD scores consistent with ADHD. Current blood Pb concentrations were associated with higher TRF symptom scores for externalizing problems and with symptoms of ADHD (hyperactive-impulsive type) based on the DBD.
CONCLUSIONS:

To our knowledge, this study is the first to identify an association between prenatal MeHg and ADHD symptomatology in childhood and the first to replicate previously reported associations between low-level childhood Pb exposure and ADHD in a population exposed to Pb primarily from dietary sources.

[20score]

2. I thought the studys done by professors Levitt and Donahue made a strong case for

Last edited Sat Jan 12, 2013, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)

the effect of legalized abortion on crime rate. Always open to new evidence, but the case they made was fairly solid.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache TMvyt5ngpgJ:pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/DonohueLevittReply2004.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh27DHFErA0eNNQM42leuoAY25LK-YTgu3yLom1JM3hRpstkeX9VEFeQA87BAvnEMrg6Dyk9gXSPJCRXIQbSCQD6gPGeAl6NgmSYfA41PgDbwKdjvoQOtXTfxpd3cUck--Q3dIf&sig=AHIEtbQVpz5IVTONf7Y67AsTenlF9RBsLg

[bonniebgood]

3. Lead Poisoning and Violent Crime reports forgot the HUGE link in

guns and gun residue. How much lead is in guns and bullets? I went to target practice a couple of times
and the stench from the guns being fired made me sick.
Have you ever notice the common link between mass murders
and gun nuts photos. They all have big bulging crazy stretched eyes. Your eyes are the closest to the 'frontal lobe" brain activity. These people have been exposed to a lot of lead poisoning from an early age. see the photo on DU last night
parent with their babies sucking on guns?

[Buzz Clik]

4. Lead poisoning from inhaling the fumes from firing guns and sucking on the barrels.

Fascinating.

Baseless. Irrational.

But fascinating.

[booley]

5. I don't know

I know that outside firing ranges do have a problem with lead in the soil. Years and years of spend shells leeching into the soil.

I am sure many ranges do try to clean up the spent shells but not all do and even when they do many still get missed.

And when it gets dry, dust gets kicked up back into the air where's it's breathed in. Now imagine doing this for an hour a day for years and years. The ranges I have seen were enclosed in a huge tent so that would concentrate the dose.

I have no idea if there' s any lead in gun smoke. Or if any of the ingredients of gun smoke are dangerous when inhaled.

But at one time the idea of leaded gasoline affecting crime rates also seemed crazy.

So not baseless or irrational. But still an unproven hypothesis.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Oy! Let's look at this for a moment.

The lead in firing ranges (private and military) comes from the projectiles (bullets), not the shells; but, I know what you meant, and you are correct. It's a problem in that the lead has accumulated to extreme levels. Wind-borne dust is not a huge problem, but it is not out of the question.

Lead in gasoline came from Pb being an additive to gasoline, and it was "burned" along with the gasoline and spewed out the tailpipe as a gas, just like carbon dioxide. The Pb, however, didn't usually travel very far, and Pb accumulations in soils and other surfaces (like walls of homes!) near high traffic areas were easily measured. Pb in the air was at dangerous levels near highways and busy streets.

The smell from firing a gun is not from the lead. Trace quantities Pb are volatilized during the firing of the weapon, but these are found on the hand that pulled the trigger. The quantities are so small that highly sophisticated methods are needed to detect them, and gunshot residues other than on the hand generally do not contain Pb levels that are elevated above those found in the absence of gunfire.

To avoid Pb poisoning from gunfire, one simply needs to avoid contact with the bullets.