Posted on 03/08/2022 5:31:41 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Exposure to leaded gasoline lowered the IQ of about half the population of the United States, a new study estimates.
The peer-reviewed study, published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on people born before 1996 — the year the U.S. banned gas containing lead.
Overall, the researchers from Florida State University and Duke University found, childhood lead exposure cost America an estimated 824 million points, or 2.6 points per person on average.
Certain cohorts were more affected than others. For people born in the 1960s and the 1970s, when leaded gas consumption was skyrocketing, the IQ loss was estimated to be up to 6 points and for some, more than 7 points. Exposure to it came primarily from inhaling auto exhaust.
The team behind the study used gas consumption data, population estimates and other data to calculate that as of 2015, more than 170 million Americans had had blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter in their early childhood years.
Lead is a neurotoxin, and no amount of it is safe. Currently, 3.5 micrograms per deciliter is the reference value for blood lead levels to be considered high; the acceptable amount was once higher.
Principal study author Michael McFarland, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University and a faculty member of the university’s Center for Demography and Population Health, called the number of people affected by lead exposure “staggering.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Yeah. Couldn’t have had anything to do with the stupidity and uselessness of school curriculums and such.
Well, Biden did say he was a truck driver...
If ever there was a reason to stop using gasoline.
Public Schools blunted the IQs of the remaining population.
They are easy to find. They are all leftists and RINOs.
So what happened to the millennials?…
Might be interesting to know if that's larger or smaller than the margin of error on an average IQ test...
;>)
OK, this explains Democrats.
But it doesn’t explain the assistant Democrats like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney.
Did lead paint cause the other 50%?
—hummm—explains Democrats—
LOL! Now the rats are looking for excuses for their horrible teaching methods!
I guess that explains all the libertards in the big cities.
Currently, about half the population pays no federal income taxes. I submit that not paying federal income taxes causes a loss of IQ. A lot more than a few points. There seems to be a lot more evidence of this than a leaded gasoline connection.
Less than 3 points difference? That’s about enough to learn that you shouldn’t pick your nose in public and is well within the margin of error for any sampling study.
No....it was the STUPID TEACHER!
Did they come to that conclusion before or after the study. More junk science just in time for high gas prices.
So now they reveal the true reason so many people vote Democrat!
Back in those days schools were actually teaching kids. I went to school in the 60s and early 70s. Before anyone was woke except in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
Also, I grew up a country boy. Nothing but sweet, clean air, if you didn’t mind the smell of manure when the pastures got sprayed.
L.A. was blanketed with lead smog for decades.
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