It is common knowledge that lead is bad for our health, and our government is trying to protect our children from lead poisoning through the Consumer Product Safety Information Act, however misguided this legislation is.
New research from the University of Cincinnati concludes that kids exposed to lead are more likely to become violent criminals as adults.
Scientists studied 250 children that were exposed to lead in utero and found the adults who had the highest levels of lead in their blood as children had the highest arrest rates as adults. “These findings provide strong evidence that early lead exposure is a risk factor for criminal behavior, including violent crime.”[social_buttons]
Most children are exposed to lead through paint in older homes. Although lead has not been used in homes since 1978, it is still considered the one of the most serious environmental problems facing America’s children. There has also been a flurry of toy recalls due to lead in paint over the past couple of years.
Such research linking lead exposure and violence makes one rethink crime in general. I wonder how many people are sitting in US jails when lead is actually to blame for their criminal behavior. Lead in gas, paint, toys…there was no escape in the 70s.
Image: Halima Ahkdar on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
This is definitly food for thought,but also remember that there is no for sures on how lead will affect a person! If I just accept this,then how would I go on with a positive thought in my mind regarding my 4yr old twin boys future? They both have lead poisoning from anolder home we lived in,they both had pretty high levels,and neither had any symptoms! The docs were all amazed when they saw my almost 2yr old boys!I nursed them until 2yrs,and actually a little over. I like to believe our watching them,nursing them,and the continued work I do to keep their minds firing and growing is helping to diminish any lasting damage that may have been caused by the lead. No ONE,has given me a this will happen to your boys,they just don’t know! I don’t treat them different than I trea my younger twins,or than I did my oldest son. I don’t expect them to have any deficiencies,but will work with what ever comes. I welcome any info people have & want to share with us.Personal or factual I’m always looking to expand my mind and knowledge of my childrens issue,we are still currently monitoring them and their levels are still coming down.They are still above acceptable levels.Acceptable levels, I LOVE that phrase as far as I can tell there is NO acceptable level! Thanks for the info,but a positive spin or less negative might be a better way to go as some parents out there may just give up hope on their childrens futures. I believe that we MUST believe in our children 100% if we want them to believ in them selves and be healthy succesful adults! Just my thoughts.
I sometimes don’t have time to comment, but just thought this was interesting. I think I may have heard that somewhere before, but it is so weird how there is so much differing stuff out there about lead. Some places say even being in the presence of any kind of lead dust is terrible, and some, like our doctor, say that you have to ingest quite a bit of it before it will even present elevated levels of lead. It’s kind of confusing.