The theory that the stubborn nature of baby boomers is to blame for their addiction due to their pre-regulatory upbringing in a world covered in lead paint has become a popular internet joke in recent years. Or maybe it’s an actual theory.
But the shoes are now turning the other way, as a new study finds a potential link between lead and mental health in young people, including some of the disaffected children of the baby boomer generation. Looks like it might be in position.
The study found that leaded gasoline may be causing mental health problems in older Gen X and Millennials.
the studyThe results of a study conducted by researchers at Duke University, Florida State University, and the Medical University of South Carolina were recently published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and some of the results are quite surprising.
First, the historical use of lead in gasoline means that more than half of today’s U.S. population was exposed to unhealthy levels of lead as children. Lead was first added to gasoline in 1923 to protect engines and improve performance and efficiency.
But these improvements came at a cost. Exposure to lead causes all kinds of neurological and developmental harm in humans, especially children. The man who discovered that lead helped engines was actually recovering from lead poisoning when the gasoline he developed was released.
The United States began phasing out lead in gas in 1975, citing pollution rather than lead poisoning. The process took until 1996 to complete, but new cars made the switch immediately. Nevertheless, research shows that it appears to have been long enough to cause real harm to humans.
The study found that people born before 1996 were exposed to worryingly high levels of lead during childhood, likely due to car exhaust.
The study looked at lead levels in children’s blood from 1940 to 2015 and found that there were approximately 151 million excess cases of mental health disorders during that period. It was shown that This includes personality changes that may have influenced their level of success and resilience in life.
This study shows that essentially everyone alive born before 1996, the majority of Americans, is likely to have experienced alarmingly high levels of lead exposure during childhood. They showed that there are all sorts of ways to be exposed to lead, but the most common way is through car exhaust. Probably the culprit.
Of course, that includes the baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, who are the most often mentioned in jokes about lead exposure causing personality problems and “Karen” tendencies. . Studies have found that poor impulse control and neuroticism are highly correlated with lead exposure, which could certainly explain these traits.
However, it wasn’t baby boomers who were most affected in this study. Rather, the rates of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and ADHD were higher among people born between 1966 and 1986 – Generation X and “older” Millennials. Those most affected were those born between 1966 and 1970.
This study supports previous data on lead exposure, including its association with crime rates.
There is no safe level of lead exposure for humans, especially children, and lead is still found in many places and in many forms, from plumbing service lines to old paint and even some toys made overseas. I am.
Experts say this new study confirms previous data on the dangers of lead exposure, not only that Gen It also describes data linking exposure to crime rates, it said.
”major crime hypothesis” attributed the sharp decline in all types of crime in the 1990s and 2000s to lower levels of lead poisoning due to bans on leaded gasoline, lead paint, and other products in the 1970s.
Dr. Aaron Reuben, one of the study authors, said the new study doesn’t necessarily prove a causal link between lead and mental illness (or crime rates, for that matter). But it will happen.”add more evidence The bottom line is that removing lead from our environment and not putting it in the environment in the first place has more benefits than we previously understood. ”
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. Covers topics related to culture, mental health, and human interests.
