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Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

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Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#371

Post by throwaway0a5e »

dmitrygr wrote: post #369
downrightmike wrote: post #365

Small airports have more smaller prop planes, fun fact, they almost exclusively use leaded gas because it gives them more power. So if you live near one, you're getting a dusting of lead everyday. Like this one in the middle of $500k+ homes suburbs: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chandler+Municipal+Airport...

This has been disproven so many times, it is tiring to even try. Small amount, dispersed over huge distances. Current measurements indicate NO more lead in the blood of people near airports than not. It is only heard nowadays from land developers seeking to capitalize on a few acres among "the middle of $500k+ homes"

Don't forget the part about "gives them more performance" which is just an overt lie. They use it because aviation is regulated to high heaven and there are no approved alternatives yet.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#372

Post by elihu »

downrightmike wrote: post #365

Small airports have more smaller prop planes, fun fact, they almost exclusively use leaded gas because it gives them more power. So if you live near one, you're getting a dusting of lead everyday. Like this one in the middle of $500k+ homes suburbs: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chandler+Municipal+Airport...

It doesn't give them more power. As I understand it, small planes last a long time, and a lot of them have old engines that were designed for leaded gas and wear out faster if run on unleaded fuel. Thus, the FAA is reluctant to approve unleaded fuel in those aircraft.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#373

Post by Ancalagon »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #371
dmitrygr wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been disproven so many times, it is tiring to even try. Small amount, dispersed over huge distances. Current measurements indicate NO more lead in the blood of people near airports than not. It is only heard nowadays from land developers seeking to capitalize on a few acres among "the middle of $500k+ homes"

Don't forget the part about "gives them more performance" which is just an overt lie. They use it because aviation is regulated to high heaven and there are no approved alternatives yet.

Yeah I believe it’s more of an maintenance deal. The leaded gas causes less wear on the cylinders and pistons, so generally makes the plane safer and less risk of a major malfunction during a flight. There aren’t many alternatives with similar characteristics to leaded gas. We used to use it in cars for the same reason, but decided the maintenance/safety/health trade offs were worth banning it.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#374

Post by pathartl »

mixedCase wrote: post #78
pathartl wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sugar isn't really optional these days. It's snuck into so much of our processed food it's sickening.

It is optional to eat those foods for the vast majority of people, but it isn't as convenient.

Not just inconvenient, but expensive and out of reach.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#375

Post by Ancalagon »

tyjen wrote: post #309
breakyerself wrote: post #248

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/

Learned about this phenomenon when considering buying a home built prior to 1978. The highest blood lead levels are seen in children living in denser population areas at or below poverty thresholds. Homes in these largely urban, low-income areas are disproportionately built before 1978 and subject inhabiting children to a significantly higher lead exposure risk. In 2014, it was estimated that 90 percent of all DC hom…

This and asbestos is why I will only ever buy homes constructed after 1979.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#376

Post by 09bjb »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #366
kikokikokiko wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IQ reduction is totally expected from the moment contraceptive methods became fully available. Common sense seems to be out of fashion these days, but Idiocracy was spot on: the dumber you are the more prone to "unexpected" pregnancies you'll be. The future will not be Star Trek.

you never know. We might be able to hit a critical mass with Authoritarian regimes regulating reproduction, and through gene editing. Perhaps when we finally translate "unintelligent people" into "vermin" we'll do what many previous iterations of society have done... genocide. Part of this is literally possible. A big part of made stark to point out that we should be careful in the way our language dehumanizes people…

Until we treat "unintelligent" people in our society with compassion and respect I think "intelligent" is a misnomer for the remaining demographic.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#377

Post by throwaway0a5e »

Ansil849 wrote: post #359
tyjen wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Learned about this phenomenon when considering buying a home built prior to 1978. The highest blood lead levels are seen in children living in denser population areas at or below poverty thresholds. Homes in these largely urban, low-income areas are disproportionately built before 1978 and subject inhabiting children to a significantly higher lead exposure risk. In 2014, it was estimated that 90 percent of all DC hom…

> because lead lobbyists continued to disrupt regulation efforts. I have genuine, actual trouble maintaining faith in humanity when I hear about people like this existing. It just makes me incredibly depressed and bummed out about life.

edit: My analysis is clearly unwelcome here.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#378

Post by pathartl »

RobertRoberts wrote: post #81
pathartl wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sugar isn't really optional these days. It's snuck into so much of our processed food it's sickening.

I have a simple rule: If it has processed sugar in the ingredient list _anywhere_ I don't buy it. If everyone did this, less processed sugar would be in our food supply. (corn syrups especially but also weird stuff like stevia, sneaky stuff like maltodextrin, etc..)

Unfortunately that runs into the issue of education, expense, and general preference. We're never going to remove it by relying on consumer choice.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#379

Post by ElephantsMyAnus »

ch4s3 wrote: post #333
ElephantsMyAnus wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you agree that it needs an explanation, right? You gloat about a dramatic decrease in crime, yet the number of inmates increased tenfold over that time period.

See my other reply[1]. I'm not gloating, simply conveying facts about numbers. The increase in incarceration is mostly due to tougher sentences for non-violent crime. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30605054

Maybe the tougher sentences worked?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#/...

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#380

Post by gunfighthacksaw »

hadlock wrote: post #289
jccooper wrote: post #258

For context, leaded gasoline phase-out began in 1973, based on the 1970 Clean Air Act. It was largely gone in the US by the 80s but not officially eliminated (except for General Aviation) until 1996. Other countries continued to use leaded gasoline, largely in Africa and the Middle East; the UN started an effort in 2002 to eliminate it in those places still using it. In July 2021, the last stocks of leaded gasoline (…

Yeah in the US I recall in 1991 or 92 the pumps had "UNLEADED" in great big letters running up the side of them. My dad's '77 chevy had a gas gauge near the center console that said "UNLEADED FUEL ONLY". There's been another push to get rid of leaded gas in aviation but studies show that it's virtually undetectable in the environment.

I remember the UK in the 90s/00s had unleaded written on the pump too, but there was no leaded option.

Actually, I think I have a vague memory pre-millennium of there being leaded pumps (typically red handle vs the green unleaded)

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