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from the there-are-acceptable-levels-of-lead-poisoning? dept.
Some neighborhoods in California are experiencing levels of lead that exceed those measured in Flint, Michigan:
Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows.
The data shows how lead poisoning affects even a state known for its environmental advocacy, with high rates of childhood exposure found in a swath of the Bay Area and downtown Los Angeles. And the figures show that, despite national strides in eliminating lead-based products, hazards remain in areas far from the Rust Belt or East Coast regions filled with old housing and legacy industry.
In one central Fresno zip code, 13.6 percent of blood tests on children under six years old came back high for lead. That compares to 5 percent across the city of Flint during its recent water contamination crisis. In all, Reuters found at least 29 Golden State neighborhoods where children had elevated lead tests at rates at least as high as in Flint.
Interactive map of U.S. lead hotspots.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24 2017, @07:34AM
Side effects of lead exposure include:
- Rigid, inflexible problem-solving abilities
- Delayed general intellectual abilities
- Problems controlling behavior (e.g., aggressive, impulsive)
- Poor language understanding or usage
Really only half joking. The behavioral changes throughout the nation are bizarre in their degree and rapidity of change. Aside from freak lead exposure, there are a vast array of new chemicals, compounds, and conditions we're now regularly exposed to. I don't think attributing everything entirely to psychosomatic and social conditions is necessarily logical. Would be interesting if it turns out that we're repeating leaded fuel all over again, just with a different culprit. For those unaware lead exposure has been causally linked to violence and aggression. The regulation against lead correlates not only to the sharp drop in violent crime in the USA, but worldwide - varying precisely by the times countries regulated against leaded fuels. In some countries, such as Brazil, regulations against lead were rolled out in different periods at different times and the according reduction in violence followed closely. Wiki overview [wikipedia.org]. Oh and nearly all political leaders throughout the world, including the US, grew up huffing lead as much as their mother's milk. Just lovely.