Lead from gasoline blunted the IQ of about half the U.S. population

[Accidental Retiree]

When I was a boy in Hawaii back in the 60's, they used to spray DDT regularly to kill the mosquitos. So, periodically, a big tank/fogger truck would slowly drive through the neighborhood streets spewing thick clouds of blue smoke. We kids would run along behind it, dancing in and out of the clouds. Who knows what that did to us?

We did the same thing in South Texas.

Between that and being shut into a car on road trips with windows up and both parents smoking like chimneys….

 

[Walt34]

I'm quite certain that all that lead had no effect at all on my generation....

 

[braumeister]

I'm quite certain that all that lead had no effect at all on my generation....

Well, there is the issue of short term memory loss.


Also, there is the issue of short term memory loss.

 

[JoeWras]

What was the question [emoji780]

 

[RobbieB]

I dunno, mosquito foggers?

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Lemme guess: you were playing with Jarts (lawn darts)?

My cousin still has a Jarts set and we use it at his annual day after thanksgiving party. Goes well with alcohol.

Any kids from the south or mid Atlantic ever spend a vacation at Lake Arrowhead campground in Myrtle Beach in the 60s? I remember chasing the DDT truck there every evening.

 

[donheff]

We used to swing on the exposed water pipes running through the rafters in the basement. Unfortunately, the hot water pipes were wrapped in peeling, flaking asbestos. In the 90s whoever was living there probably sealed the whole basement off while they remediated the mess.

 

[Masquernom]

If you think Times Beach, from the linked article, had a lot of dioxin, check out Midland, Michigan. That's the home of Dow Chemical.

 

[zinger1457]

Lived in Los Angeles county during the 80's and in the northern part of the county next to the hills the smog was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Folks who lived in that area must have gotten mega doses of the bad stuff. Fortunately I lived and worked next to the coast where the sea breeze kept most of it inland.

 

[pacergal]

Between that and being shut into a car on road trips with windows up and both parents smoking like chimneys….

cough...choke...Oh yes, survived that too. Well, have asthma as a result.....

 

[harllee]

When I was a boy in Hawaii back in the 60's, they used to spray DDT regularly to kill the mosquitos. So, periodically, a big tank/fogger truck would slowly drive through the neighborhood streets spewing thick clouds of blue smoke. We kids would run along behind it, dancing in and out of the clouds. Who knows what that did to us?

We did the same thing. Who knows what genius I could have been if I had not done that?

 

[GravitySucks]

Been following this for 5 or 6 years now.
Absolutely true and unfortunately there is still alot of residual lead on the ground in high traffic areas.

On a side rant: Mellenials and Gen Yers complaining that boomers are leaving an apoclyptic nightmare behind should look at what we cleaned. Anyone else remember the Cayahoga river catching on fire? Twice! (My daughter thought I was making a joke when I told her about it when we drove over it a couple years ago.) Watch the opening credits of The Odd Couple and Nightstalker. You can taste that air. Add in the ozone layer is finally healed and I think we didn't do to bad.


Edit to add:
GET OFF MY DANG LAWN!

 

[braumeister]

the ozone layer is finally healed

Hardly.

https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/statistics/annual_data.html

 

[Calico]

Thank goodness I finally have something to blame it on.

I'm sorry.....what was the question?

 

[EastWest Gal]

Amazing we all survived.
I am sure our house had lead paint for years, and I remember all the Dads in our neighborhood spraying yards for insects every few months, using that stinky bug stuff Malathion? DDT? who knows. We all breathed it in, as we were" playing outside until dark"!

That stinky stuff is malathion. Very stinky and has low toxicity. There is a prescription malathion lotion to treat head lice in children over age 6.

Lead was removed from paint in 1978. The risk is in older homes with peeling or disintegrating paint. Lead is found in old water pipes as well, which was a disaster for Flint, MI. It was removed from gasoline starting in 1973.

A study in Santa Clara County where are started my career in the 1990s concluded that children in the area were at lower risk of lead poisoning than elsewhere due to the lack of older housing. Our hospital system was in charge of the medical portion of our lead abatement program here in PA. We saw a lot of elevated lead levels in inner city kids.

 

[Turbo29]

Interesting article about the plumbiferous era.
Dr. C.F. Kettering (the same Kettering that helped found the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) was the president of Ethyl Corportation.
The Rise and Fall of Leaded Gasoline.

PS: Not in favor of leaded fumes or ingesting bug spray any more than I am the maximum acceptable amount of rat hairs and insects in hotdogs

Enjoy your dinner: Food Defect Levels Handbook

 

[Boose]

It's great that we stopped spreading used motor oil (with or without Agent Orange) on unpaved roads. Now we just need to ensure we aren't salting our roads with radioactive oil drilling byproducts:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politi...as-fracking-radioactive-investigation-937389/

 

[RetMD21]

95% reduction in lead levels in children since the 70s. Amazing.

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP7932

 

[JoeWras]

There is plenty of lead pipe out there. Chicago is full of it. There is plenty of lead soldered copper everywhere, especially any homes before 1990 or so.

One part of the problem in Flint is the authorities lost sight of the pH of water. There were other issues too (using river water?), but pH is very important.

It is very important that we monitor our government's water reports regarding domestic water supplies. They absolutely must buffer the pH properly. And they must be held accountable.

It is currently impossible to get all the lead out of the system. It literally would be a trillion dollar problem for the USA. So if the pH is proper, then lead naturally has an oxide that effectively protects from any major leaching.

My 1980 house has lead soldered copper. I watch my city's water reports carefully. Fortunately, they are very aware of this issue and are very forthcoming. The city also added all kinds of test points around the city.

If you are on well water, this is something you need to follow closely yourself, especially for a home with copper pipes built before 1988.

 

[RetMD21]

There is plenty of lead pipe out there. Chicago is full of it. There is plenty of lead soldered copper everywhere, especially any homes before 1990 or so.

One part of the problem in Flint is the authorities lost sight of the pH of water. There were other issues too (using river water?), but pH is very important.

It is very important that we monitor our government's water reports regarding domestic water supplies. They absolutely must buffer the pH properly. And they must be held accountable.

It is currently impossible to get all the lead out of the system. It literally would be a trillion dollar problem for the USA. So if the pH is proper, then lead naturally has an oxide that effectively protects from any major leaching.

My 1980 house has lead soldered copper. I watch my city's water reports carefully. Fortunately, they are very aware of this issue and are very forthcoming. The city also added all kinds of test points around the city.

If you are on well water, this is something you need to follow closely yourself, especially for a home with copper pipes built before 1988.

My county, in Michigan, facilitated testing of home samples for those who were interested and would pay. Interestingly, the children in Flint had blood lead levels that were good compared to the past. Of course the goal should be zero and the corrosive water was inexcusable. Info on actual lead levels: https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/body...y, which appears in,historic low for the city.

 

[Time2]

Same thing in New Jersey, kids chasing the bug truck. Insane.

The mosquito truck has a distinctive sound, as soon as we hear it, we are running around closing any open doors and windows before it gets near our home.

 

[NXR7]

95% reduction in lead levels in children since the 70s. Amazing.

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP7932

Dang. And here I was hoping that all of the IQ damage from leaded gasoline got passed genetically from parent to kid to grandkids because that would help explain today's world.

Must be something else. Maybe aliens.

 

[JohnRM]

Waiting for dad

My dad would sometimes start the big Mercury Monterey station wagon and let it run while it warmed up and we all got ready to go where-ever. I passed the time by looking through the long cone shaped lens of the tail light that turned everything red. Right near the tailpipe....

 

[PatrickW]

I wonder if that explains some of the behavior seen in urban (ie, high gasoline consumption) areas.

There does seem to be a lot of commonality across the larger cities.

 

[6miths]

Dang. And here I was hoping that all of the IQ damage from leaded gasoline got passed genetically from parent to kid to grandkids because that would help explain today's world.

Must be something else. Maybe aliens.

Let's see, TV, home computers, video games, internet, social media, lack of exercise, 'smart'phones, helicopter parents, low fat diets... I'm sure we can come up with something more likely than aliens.