341–350 of 508 posts
I really doubt that. While I am aware of shrinking IQ, as far as I know its a thing of the last 30 years, leaded gas in most developed countries was already outlawed.
I was recently horrified to learn that the baby glass bottle I had been using with my baby had lead paint on it. https://tamararubin.com/2021/12/sailor-themed-glass-nuk-baby... Apparently, it's considered to be acceptable by current standards. Despite the fact that babies will obviously touch the bottle (and the paint) and then put their hands in their mouth. I bought glass bottles because I wanted to avoid plastic t…
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It was banned in the US in 1978.
So this is all historical and not being removed because of the cost?
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But then there's been a huge rise in crime. The murder rate in some cities is dramatically higher than just a few years ago. But it's not like the gas suddenly became leaded again. This makes me think that we just can't be too certain about these things.
There was not huge rise in crime in general. There were more murders during lockdowns in US, which is in fact to be expected since people were forced to be with close relatives - and most murders are by close people.
Black children had an adjusted 0.73 to 1.41 µg/dL more blood Pb (p https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084658/
Is it certain that the Pb causes the lower IQ or maybe there is some other factor and poorer people happen to have higher concentration?
I was recently horrified to learn that the baby glass bottle I had been using with my baby had lead paint on it. https://tamararubin.com/2021/12/sailor-themed-glass-nuk-baby... Apparently, it's considered to be acceptable by current standards. Despite the fact that babies will obviously touch the bottle (and the paint) and then put their hands in their mouth. I bought glass bottles because I wanted to avoid plastic t…
Some also attribute the removal of lead to substantial decrease in violence over the last few decades. So, I am not surprised that the effect size here is so large.
Might an impolite question to ask, but is there a known correlation between IQ and propensity for physical violence ? (controlled for socio economics and protected classes of course)
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You can’t ban everything… Marijuanna and sugar and a million other potential vices like alcohol and video games should be available. But we should teach kids discipline, critical thinking, and impulse control - rather than playing whack-a-mole with every vice that comes along.
as we're a society increasingly made up of single parents with a poverty of energy and time. not to mention their own education on these matters.
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Is it certain that the Pb causes the lower IQ or maybe there is some other factor and poorer people happen to have higher concentration?
It one of the most impactful studies on how lead affects intellectual development, the researcher (who is white) restricted the study to white people only because he assumed (correctly) his results would be ignored if he included African Americans who are disproportionately affected by lead poisoning.
Has widespread use of lead been exclusive to the US ? I'd imagine that there are other countries which still haven't transitioned off lead, and that they can be used as control. Alternately, are there states that never embraced widespread lead use and if they can be used as a control too ? Some also attribute the removal of lead to substantial decrease in violence over the last few decades. So, I am not surprised tha…
No. Leaded gasoline was used throughout the world. Leaded paint on the other hand was in some cases banned in other countries 50 years before it was in the US.