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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

#491

Post by hammock »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #438
hammock wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the study: >examined risk factors; survey years; binary gender; bodyweight; low birthweight; anemia; health insurance coverage; Medicaid/CHIP enrollment; federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) supplemental food program enrollment; use of water treatment devices; b age in months; c educational attainment less than 9th grade education; d housing built before 1960 or 1940; e number of cigarettes smoked inside t…

Yeah don't even start to read up on lead arsenate sprays in apple orchards through most of the 20th century. That will keep you at night up for a long time when you start to think about it.

I came across "Poisons in your food" by Ruth Winter in my high school library one day and haven't slept since.

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

#492

Post by LordDragonfang »

dionidium wrote: post #388
LordDragonfang wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealthy people are more likely to have good childcare (nannies, after school activities) where kids spend less time unsupervised and able to, for example, eat paint chips. For that matter, stuff like chipped paint is less likely to be left in a deteriorating state by more affluent owners.

Just as a matter of common sense and gut-check plausibility, what are we talking about when we talk about "eating paint chips?" Does eating a couple flakes lower your IQ in a measurable way? Seems very unlikely. What are we talking about, then? Do we imagine kids to be shoveling paint chips into their mouth day after day? Surely that's a pretty small number of children (if it's any), nowhere near enough to suggest ge…

It's not just chips, but also dust. Regardless, it has enough effect for the CDC to have a page about it:

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources/paint.htm

The study in the OP also specifically calls it out:

>Our estimates, based on leaded gasoline consumption, may also have underpredicted high-lead exposures owing to leaded paints and pipes, which tend to aggregate within particular communities (e.g., those with high rates of homes with lead service lines and lead paint in disrepair).

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

#493

Post by mark-r »

gordian-mind wrote: post #283
discardedrefuse wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the article: Leaded gasoline consumption rose rapidly in the early 1960s and peaked in the 1970s. As a result, Reuben and his colleagues found that essentially everyone born during those two decades are all but guaranteed to have been exposed to pernicious levels of lead from car exhaust.

So lowering the general IQ in a society by a few points means an explosion in crime?

I don't believe it is the decrease in IQ that causes the crime, rather that both effects are correlated because they have the same root cause.

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

#494

Post by kingcharles »

chupasaurus wrote: post #437
iancmceachern wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add to this, they still mine (and make products from) Asbestos to this day in Russia. They even have open pit mines and use explosives.

And most of the asbestos mined there is being exported.

Was...

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

#495

Post by throwaway7033 »

rayiner wrote: post #212
legitster wrote: post #61

I have a strong worries that our current generation will have a similar huge reckoning with marijuana. We are already seeing studies that show regular marijuana use is correlated with permanent decreases in intelligence, memory loss, motivation, and mental health. And anecdotally, this seems very apparent in my peer group. And Americans are using copious amounts of the stuff right now, and younger than ever before. I…

I’m against legalization. I thought it was just going to be a humane alternative to putting people in jail. But instead we’ve just broken down the social norm against drug use. Parts of DC now smell strongly of weed during the middle of the day.

Be thankful it's just marijuana; here in Seattle, we're so enlightened that addicts using fentanyl and meth on buses (https://komonews.com/news/local/king-county-metro-drivers-fr... a big issue.

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

#496

Post by chupasaurus »

kingcharles wrote: post #494
chupasaurus wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And most of the asbestos mined there is being exported.

Was...

The biggest importer of asbestos is India. Even if they'd already banned Russian asbestos, the only country to have enough asbestos is China, guess the rest.

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

#497

Post by ch4s3 »

ElephantsMyAnus wrote: post #486
ch4s3 wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no utopian thinking here, just a recounting of statistics. Crime is a lot lower now in the US an Europe than it was for most of the post war period. In so far as we have data, there's a lot less murder now than at any time for which we have records. Again these are basic facts. I'm not drawing any conclusions here really.

But why do you need to cherry pick the data, if it's so clear cut? https://www.econlib.org/archives/2011/06/crime_statistic.htm...

The whole discussion is about the post war increase, peak, and then decrease in crime. It isn't cherrypicking to have a scope for a discussion. I'm well aware of the long term trend here and mentioned it elsewhere. This matters because the 1990-ish peak is on par with crime levels at the end of the 1800s since people have limited lifespans, a doubling of the homicide rate in a person's lifespan is alarming. It's worth exploring and unpacking the reasons for the increase and decline. Perhaps there are policy lessons to be learned, and moreover there was no guarantee that 1992 would be the peak.

You've simultaneously argued that there is no downward trend, it doesn't matter in the long term, it did happen but because of mass incarceration in the US, and you've just been tossing out contrarian bullshit. You're acting in bad faith, and that sucks.

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

#498

Post by ElephantsMyAnus »

ch4s3 wrote: post #497
ElephantsMyAnus wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why do you need to cherry pick the data, if it's so clear cut? https://www.econlib.org/archives/2011/06/crime_statistic.htm...

The whole discussion is about the post war increase, peak, and then decrease in crime. It isn't cherrypicking to have a scope for a discussion. I'm well aware of the long term trend here and mentioned it elsewhere. This matters because the 1990-ish peak is on par with crime levels at the end of the 1800s since people have limited lifespans, a doubling of the homicide rate in a person's lifespan is alarming. It's wort…

Yes it is cherry picking. You picked the starting date to make it seem like there was a dramatic rise, while looking further shows a post war dip, and return to "normal".

I argued first with the incarceration, which suggests the opposite.

You also said it happened in all countries, while it in fact didn't.

You ignore the inconsistencies and keep pointing back to that single piece of data that seems to support your position.

There doesn't seem to be any general improvement in behavior, only a decrease in standards.

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

#499

Post by coding123 »

giobox wrote: post #240
dTal wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The variety of alcohol on offer does seem a tad perverse, in a way that status quo bias renders difficult to perceive. How many brands of bottled water do you usually see? Half a dozen, tops? And much of the volume in that aisle is occupied by huge 16-packs and giant carriers. Meanwhile the average wine aisle has hundreds of different brands, nearly all no more than 75cl, and might even stretch to two aisles in a lar…

Perhaps the difference is I am not baffled; Alcohol is enjoyable in moderation and it is one of the few high margin items in the store. Fluids are popular and take up much more shelf space as noted. As for bottled water, my local Safeway easily carries in excess of 20 brands before we count the huge number of soft drinks too? I suspect you have not been in a dispensary recently if you think a supermarket would stock…

I can already barely manage the scented tide in the store. MJ in a grocery store? Stinky.

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

#500

Post by armitron »

autoexec wrote: post #481
alar44 wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, and there is no reason to believe it's toxic if you read the Wikipedia article.

> In 2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) ruled that as a consequence of new understandings of nanoparticles, titanium dioxide could "no longer be considered safe as a food additive", Taken at face value that quote seems like reason enough to at least suspect that there's a possible problem. It also says that by the time they did that France had already banned it. The fact that a bunch of people evaluated…

It's banned in every European country I've been. In the US, it's in pretty much every popular toothpaste one can find including all the big brands.
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