Study: Being Exposed to Lead as a Child May Alter Personality

[ffr]

Key Takeaways
* A new study found that higher lead exposure in childhood could potentially negatively affect adulthood personality.
* Participants who grew up in areas with higher lead exposure were less agreeable and conscientious, and more neurotic.
* Lead weakens connections between brain cells, inhibiting certain cognitive functions included in learning and memory.

They found that those who grew up in areas with higher levels of atmospheric lead showed "less adaptive" personalities in adulthood. This means they were less agreeable and conscientious. And if younger, they tended to be more neurotic. -- Neurotic is a catch-all term describing behavior that exhibits significant anxiety or other distressing emotional symptoms, such as persistent and irrational fears, obsessive thoughts, compulsive acts, dissociative states, and somatic and depressive reactions.
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"Back in the day, [leaded] gasoline was exposing everyone to lead," Schwaba says.
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Guilarte adds that if you look at the international data, you'll find that around 1 in 3 children, or up to 800 million globally, has blood lead levels at or above the clinically significant level of 5 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL). - VeryWellHealth

Prior to human exploitation, people were not exposed to lead; however, once lead is introduced into the biosphere, it persists and bioaccumulates in the biosphere. Evidence that environmental lead levels have risen — and continue to rise — is depicted in geochemical data obtained from the accumulation of lead in the Greenland ice cap over the past three millennia. By far, the greatest increase in lead accumulation occurred in the 20th century and is attributed to the combustion of leaded petrol (which is deemed the largest contributor to global environmental lead contamination).

Association of Childhood Lead Exposure With Adult Personality Traits and Lifelong Mental Health
Question Is childhood lead exposure associated with the risk of mental illness or difficult personality traits in adulthood?

Findings In this longitudinal cohort study of 579 New Zealand children followed up for more than 30 years, greater lead exposure in childhood was significantly associated with greater psychopathology across the life course and with difficult personality traits in adulthood.

Meaning Childhood lead exposure may have long-term consequences for adult mental health and personality. - JAMA Psychiatry

Is it a stretch to reflect upon the evidence and fast forward to the irrational behavior we're seeing today?

Yesteryear's children, born by a mother who unwittingly had lead in her bones, taking a trip in the leaded gasoline only family car.


Today's adults

[cilla4progress]

1. I think about this alot.

Isn't this how Rome fell?

[PortTack]

3. I think about it too..especially the orange mass and his possible exposure

[ffr]

6. It didn't help, I'm sure.

Long term exposure to lead (Plumbism/Saturnism) has no upside.

[Ocelot II]

2. That crowd must have spent their childhood eating paint chip sandwiches.

[ffr]

4. .

You gave that a lot of thought.

[mopinko]

5. not a stretch at all of you ask me.

[mzmolly]

7. And the typical American diet,

isn't helping.

http://hpri.fullerton.edu/Community/documents/Fact_sheet-Nutrients_that_reduce_lead_poisoning_June_2010.pdf

Good info. Thanks for sharing!

[ffr]

8. Thank you! Passing this one on and keeping it for my family.

[mzmolly]

9. You're

most welcome.