summary: A new study estimates that childhood lead exposure, which peaked between 1960 and 1990 due to leaded gasoline, was responsible for 151 million excess mental illness cases by 2015. Researchers linked historical lead exposure data to mental health symptoms and found that personality changes and mental health disorders were to blame. It is most noticeable among Generation X.
This highlights the lasting impact of environmental toxins on public health and serves as a warning for leaded gasoline to prioritize profit over safety. The findings highlight the need to proactively address environmental risks to prevent long-term societal harm.
Important facts:
- Childhood lead exposure contributed to 151 million excess mental health disorders.
- Gen Xers had the most pronounced impact on their mental health.
- This study highlights the importance of active regulation of environmental toxins.
sauce: wiley
New research published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Childhood lead exposure, which peaked between 1960 and 1990 in most developed countries due to the use of lead in gasoline, may have adverse effects on mental health, causing many mental illnesses and personality changes. It shows that it is high.
For the study, researchers combined blood lead concentration data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with historical leaded gasoline data. (Leaded gas was phased out in the United States by 1996.) They estimated child blood lead levels in the United States from 1940 to 2015 and found that the mental health effects associated with lead exposure were symptoms were evaluated.
The research team hypothesizes that published links between lead and disease are causal, not pure correlations, and that by 2015 there will be 151 million excess psychiatric disorders attributable to lead exposure. It is estimated that this will occur. Lead-related mental health and personality differences were most pronounced among people born between 1966 and 1986 (Generation X).
“Society often operates under the assumption that environmental exposure is safe until proven otherwise. Leaded gasoline was not needed as an anti-knock agent. It was available. It was profitable. It took a wealth of incontrovertible evidence that happened over several decades to ban it.” the doctor said.
“This study highlights the folly of such thinking by documenting the far-reaching effects of exposure and highlights the long-term health effects of exposure to the population.”
About this mental health and environmental neuroscience research news
author: Sarah Henning Stout
sauce: wiley
contact: Sarah Henning Stout – Wiley
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Closed access.
“Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years” by Michael McFarland et al. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
abstract
Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years
background
More than half of the current U.S. population was exposed to harmful lead levels during childhood due to past use of lead in gasoline. The overall contribution of childhood lead exposure to the mental health and personality of the U.S. population has not yet been evaluated.
method
We combined serial cross-sectional blood lead level (BLL) data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with historical leaded gasoline data to estimate childhood BLL in the United States from 1940 to 2015, We calculated the rise in population mental health symptoms from the data. Leads the Association for Psychopathology.
We utilized five outcomes: (1) general psychopathology “points”; Reflects an individual’s propensity for mental disorders overall and is adjusted to match IQ scores (M= 100, SD= 15); (2) symptoms of internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), both z-score(M= 0, SD= 1); (3) Differences in personality traits between neuroticism and conscientiousness (M= 0, SD= 1).
result
Assuming that published links between lead and psychopathology are causal and not pure correlations, by 2015 the U.S. population will have 602 million cases of general psychopathology due to exposures from leaded gasoline. gained factor points and is estimated to reflect an overall standard deviation increase of 0.13. National prevalence of mental illness and an estimated 151 million excess cases of mental illness attributable to lead exposure.
Examination of symptoms in specific disease areas identified a 0.64 standard deviation increase in population-level internalizing symptoms and a 0.42 standard deviation increase in AD/HD symptoms.
Group-level neuroticism increased by 0.14 standard deviations, and conscientiousness decreased by 0.20 standard deviations. Lead-related differences in mental health and personality were most pronounced in the cohort born between 1966 and 1986 (Generation X).
conclusion
The significant burden of mental illness symptoms and adverse personality differences can be attributed to the lead exposure of U.S. children over the past 75 years. The potential contribution of lead to psychiatry, medicine, and children’s health may be greater than previously assumed.
