How lead exposure relates to temporal changes in IQ, violent crime, and unwed pregnancy

Nevin, Rick (1999): How lead exposure relates to temporal changes in IQ, violent crime, and unwed pregnancy. Published in: Environmental Research , Vol. 83, No. 1 (May 2000): pp. 1-24.

Abstract

This study compares changes in children’s blood lead levels in the United States with subsequent changes in IQ, based on norm comparisons for the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) given to representative national samples of children in 1984 and 1992. The CogAT norm comparisons indicate shifts in IQ levels consistent with the blood lead to IQ relationship reported by an earlier study and population shifts in average blood lead for children under age six between 1976 and 1991. The CogAT norm comparisons also support studies indicating that the IQ to blood lead slope may increase at lower blood lead levels. Furthermore, long term trends in population exposure to gasoline lead were found to be remarkably consistent with subsequent changes in violent crime and unwed pregnancy. Long term trends in paint and gasoline lead exposure are also strongly associated with subsequent trends in murder rates going back to 1900. The findings on violent crime and unwed pregnancy are consistent with published data describing the relationship between IQ and social behavior. The findings with respect to violent crime are also consistent with studies indicating that children with higher bone lead tend to display more aggressive and delinquent behavior. This analysis demonstrates that widespread exposure to lead is likely to have profound implications for a wide array of socially undesirable outcomes.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Lead Exposure, IQ, Violent Crime, Unwed Pregnancy
• Subjects: K - Law and Economics > K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law > K32 - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law; L - Industrial Organization > L5 - Regulation and Industrial Policy > L51 - Economics of Regulation; K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

References

Alan Guttmacher Institute: “Special Report: US Teenage Pregnancy Statistics,” 1998.

Banks, Ellen C.; Ferretti, Louise E.; Shucar, David W.; “Effects of low level lead exposure on cognitive function in Children: A review of behavioral, neuropsychological and biological evidence,” Neurotoxicology, 18/1, 1997.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Center for Health Statistics. Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 46, No. 11 (S), June 30, 1998.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 47, No. 47, “Abortion Surveillance: Preliminary Analysis – United States, 1996” December 4, 1998.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Center for Health Statistics. “Births to Unmarried Mothers: United States, 1980-92” Vital and Health Statistics. June 1995.

Dudek, Bohdan; Merecz, Dorota. “Impairment of Psychological Functions in Children Environmentally Exposed to Lead” International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. Vol.10, No.1, 1997.

Flynn, J.R. “The Mean IQ of Americans: Massive Gains” Psychological Bulletin, 95, 1984.

Flynn, J.R. “Massive IQ Gains in14 Nations: What IQ Tests Really Measure” Psychological Bulletin, 101, 1987.

Flynn, J.R. “IQ Gains Over Time” In R.J. Steinberg Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence. Macmillan, New York, 1994.

Gipe, Richelle. USGS Statistical Assistant – Lead. Personal communication. Nov 24 1998.

Herrnstein, Richard; Murray, Charles. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. The Free Press, New York, 1994.

Koonin, Lisa M.; Smith, Jack; Ramick, Merrell; Strauss, M.A.; Hopkins, Frederic W. “Abortion Surveillance – United States, 1993 and 1994” JAMA: Women’s Health. American Medical Association 1998.

Mattiello, Joseph J. Protective and Decorative Coatings. Vol. I. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1941.

Needleman, Herbert; Riess, Julie; Tobin, Michael; Biesecker, Gretchen; Greenhouse, Joel. “Bone Lead Levels and Delinquent Behavior” JAMA, February 7, 1996.

Needleman, Herbert. “Environmental Lead and Children’s Intelligence” (Letter to the Editor) British Medical Journal, Vol.310, 1995.

Nriagu, Jerome. “The Rise and Fall of Leaded Gasoline” The Science of the Total Environment, 92, 1990.

National Research Council. "Measuring Lead Exposure in Infants, Children, and Other Sensitive Populations," Committee on Measuring Lead in Critical Populations, October, 1993.

Pirkle, James et al., "The Decline in Blood Lead Levels in the United States," JAMA, July 27, 1994.

Pocock, Stuart et al. "Environmental lead and children's intelligence: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence," BMJ, Volume 309, November 1994.

Schwartz, Joel. "Low-Level Lead Exposure and Children's IQ: A Meta-Analysis and Search for a Threshold," Environmental Research, April, 1994.

Schwartz, Joel; Pitcher, Hugh. "The Relationship Between Gasoline Lead and Blood Lead in the United States," Journal of Official Statistics, Vol. 5 No. 4, 1989.

Thorndike, Robert; Hagan, Elizabeth. CogAT Research Handbook. The Riverside Publishing Company, 1997.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.”

US Department of Commerce. Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 Part I.

US Department of Commerce. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1973 – 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1990, and 1996.

US Department of Health and Human Services: Trends in the Well-Being of America’s Children and Youth: 1996.

US Department of Health and Human Services: Health, United States, 1995.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Comprehensive and Workable Plan for the Abatement of Lead Paint in Privately Owned Housing, December 7, 1970.

US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Number of offenses per 100,000 Inhabitants,” Crime Index Rate, United States, 1960-1996, and “Part I and Part II Arrests,” provided by Programs Support Section, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, United States, 1960-1996.

US Environmental Protection Agency. Air Quality Criteria for Lead, Volume I of IV, June 1986.

US Geological Survey, Minerals Information, US Consumption – Tetraethyl Lead, White Lead, and Red Lead/Litharge, provided by Data Collection and Coordination Section.

Ventura, Stephanie J.; Mathews, T.J.; and Curtin, Sally C., “Declines in Teenage Birth Rates, 1991-1997: National and State Patterns,” National Vital Statistics Reports, Ceenters for Disease Control and Prevention, Volume 47, Number 12.