A Phoenix Fiction Writer Rising From The Ashes of Nonfiction

Issues

Childhood Lead Poisoning

Links to research reports

Clair Patterson: An Alternative Perspective: National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Lead in the Human Environment, National Academies, 1980
Childhood lead poisoning and adult violence: Cincinnati Study: “Prenatal and postnatal blood lead concentrations are associated with higher rates of total arrests and/or arrests for offenses involving violence. This is the first prospective study to demonstrate an association between developmental exposure to lead and adult criminal behavior.” (2008)
Childhood lead poisoning and adult violence: Philadelphia Study (pdf): “Among males, lead poisoning, a factor related to the urban environment,was among the strongest predictors of crime, even though numerous biological and psychological factors were also examined.” (1992)
Bone Lead Levels and Delinquent Behavior: Needleman et al: “Lead exposure is associated with increased risk for antisocial and delinquent behavior, and the effect follows a developmental course.” (1996)
The Relationship Between Lead Exposure and Homicide: Stretesky & Lynch: “The implications of our findings indicate that persons who commit homicide tend to be exposed to higher levels of lead in the environment than other persons.” (2001)
The Answer Is Lead (pdf): Rick Nevin's summary of lead exposure and crime. (2011)
Decreased Brain Volume In Adults With Childhood Lead Exposure: “Childhood lead exposure is associated with region-specific reductions in adult gray matter volume. Affected regions include the portions of the prefrontal cortex and ACC responsible for executive functions, mood regulation, and decision-making. These neuroanatomical findings were more pronounced for males, suggesting that lead-related atrophic changes have a disparate impact across sexes.” (2008
Low Level Lead Poisoning and I.Q. Loss: Canfield et. al.: “IQ declined by 7.4 points as lifetime average blood lead concentrations increased from 1 to 10 µg per deciliter.” (2003)
Age of Greatest Susceptibility to Childhood Lead Exposure and I.Q. Loss: “Susceptibility to lead toxicity is often assumed to be greatest during early childhood (e.g., 2 years of age), but recent studies suggest that blood lead concentrations (BPb) taken at 5 to 7 years of age are more strongly associated with IQ.” (2009)
Low Level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children's Intellectual Function: An International Pooled Analysis: “… existing data indicate that there is no evidence of a threshold for the adverse consequences of lead exposure.” (2005)
Reduced Intellectual Development in Children with Prenatal Lead Exposure: “Lead exposure around 28 weeks gestation is a critical period for later child intellectual development, with lasting and possibly permanent effects. There was no evidence of a threshold; the strongest lead effects on IQ occurred within the first few micrograms of BPb.” (2006)
Lead, Mental Health and Social Action: A View From The Bridge: Excerpt from Treating the Poor: A Personal Sojourn Through the Rise and Fall of Community Health with example of lead causing mental illness. (2000)
Prenatal Lead Exposure and Schizophrenia: “… the emerging evidence from the human studies by Opler and colleagues and animal studies suggest that prenatal Pb2+ exposure may be an environmental risk factor for schizophrenia.” (2009)

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