Do elevated atmospheric lead levels = modern people are less intellegent?

[bbrubaker]

I think there must be many, many different variables but still....other things being equal.

 

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980912112006.htm

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Global IQ scores are increasing by something like 3 points per decade. That's not necessarily an increase in "intelligence" per se, but it indicates something. It certainly doesn't indicate a decrease in intelligence.

[bbrubaker]

All things being equal would higher levels of atmospheric lead have a negative consequence on overall mental function?

 

Maybe without atmospheric lead we'd have 6 points a decade?

 

Hope that makes it clearer.

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...as the title I chose was a little misleading.

Sorry.

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I'll take that silence as a 'yes'.

[insane_alien]

no, silence means nobody has responded yet.

 

you'd have to prove that the lead levels are detrimental to metal ability. where's the evidence?

[Mokele]

you'd have to prove that the lead levels are detrimental to metal ability. where's the evidence?

 

The severe, permanent cognitive damage caused by lead has been extensively documented, and is among the most well-known of heavy-metal poisonings next to mercury

 

 

The real questions are:

 

1) How high are average modern levels of atmospheric lead compared to what's needed to cause damage?

 

2) How much regional variation is there in level of lead contamination?

[insane_alien]

i wasn't arguing that lead didn't do any damage. is awas asking if he had proof that the levels present did any damage. which is pretty much what your post said albeit worded more eloquently and explicitly.

[bbrubaker]

Sometimes knowing how to ask the right question is 1/2 the battle.

 

Considering that lead accumulates in the body, how much is dangerous and where is it at?

 

I don't know.

 

If I did I wouldn't be asking.

 

 

I do know that airplanes, farm equipment and ATVs are still allowed to use leaded gas.

Everything else (in the US at least) has been outlawed since 1995.

[GDG]

There is a pretty informative article on Lead Poisoning at Wikipedia. There is apparently no lower threshold.

[Theophrastus]

I agree, that atmospheric lead levels may be a factor in mental retardation (AFAIK, this point has yet to be proven, though ought not be dismissed) in isolated cases, however there are numerous more important factors in measuring intelligence, and I really doubt that the atmospheric lead content shall have a very prevalent, if noticeable, effect upon the intelligence of the human populace. (Given its current quantity, as of course, breathing pure leaded vapours, is not pleasant. To say the least! )

 

(Edit)

Well, here's a lovely little study of dug up done by the division of environmental engineering, at the Asian Institute of Technology, which found that while there were few noticeable effects of atmospheric lead exposure, it did find that lead accumulates in the bloodstream, possibly as a result of this atmospheric lead content, reaching saturation point, at around the age of forty. Blood lead content is also found to be clocely related to road proximity, traffic networks, and the like (As one would expect), suggesting a correlation, however, the trace lead content of food, may also prove a factor.

Here's the link:

 

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r52j21w703t17488/

 

And here is the link to a similar study, done at the university of zurich:

 

http://www.springerlink.com/content/n3375775p05l21u8/

Edited July 30, 2009 by Theophrastus