Study Says Childhood Lead Exposure Linked to Behavioral Problems
Researchers have found that childhood exposure to lead may caused certain brain loss and increased risk of criminal behavior in adult life.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that childhood exposure to lead is linked to certain brain loss that later may lead to behavioral problems as they grew up.
The two studies which were published by the online journal PLOS (May 27, 2008) found evidence for the grave consequences of childhood lead exposure. The first study, led by Kim M. Cecil of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, monitored hundreds of children from the womb into their 20’s. Cecil conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of 157 people. The study found an average loss of 1.2 percent in the volume of gray matter in the brain. It also found that the losses were greater (1.7%) among male subjects.
In the second but the same Cincinnati Lead Study, led by Kim N. Dietrich, also at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, found correlations between lead exposure and crime rates. Researchers tracked the subjects criminal behavior as adults and measured their blood lead exposure against their arrests as young adults. The study found that for every increase of 5 micrograms per deciliter in blood lead level, there was 30 percent increase in arrest rate for violent offenses.
“We have seen effects of lead below 5 micrograms,” Dietrich said. The effects include attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and conduct and cognition disorders
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