A quiz:
1. What’s a reason rooted in biology that young Americans today have higher I.Q.s on average than those of us who grew up in the 1970s or earlier?
2. What kills perhaps 1.5 million people or more each year around the world?
3. A new American initiative aims to save vast numbers of lives around the world and add millions of points to our collective I.Q. by reducing what?
The answer to all three questions has to do with a health crisis that most people are barely aware of: lead poisoning.
Lead is a neurotoxin, and the dangers aren’t new. Benjamin Franklin warned in 1786 about the perils of drinking rainwater that had trickled off a lead roof.
But in a disgraceful chapter in American business history, companies found that lead additives made for pretty paint colors and smooth engine performance, so in their greed they resisted regulation.
“Lead helps to guard your health,” one paint company declared. So vast numbers of children were poisoned, and even today, half a million American children still suffer elevated lead levels, threatening their brain development, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lead doesn’t just dull brains. It’s also associated with violent and uncontrolled behavior. One theory is that a factor in the decline in crime since the 1990s was lower lead exposures.
Most lead poisoning in the United States comes from old paint, but tainted water from lead pipes is also a problem.
The Biden administration last month announced a major global initiative to tackle lead poisoning in poor and middle-income countries where lead is an even greater problem than in the rich world.
it appears that roughly half of children in those countries suffer from elevated lead
lead is often used around the world in cosmetics, spices and cookware
aluminum pans in many countries contain lead, as do glazes on ceramic dishes used to serve food
