> Deborah Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > I'm short on time today, but if you like I will see > what PubMed has on crime/lead exposure, if anything.
Well, not as short as I thought. This is the abstract of the 2002 study about bone lead levels and adjudicated delinquency: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12460653 ...This is a case-control study of 194 youths aged 12-18, arrested and adjudicated as delinquent by the Juvenile Court of Allegheny County, PA and 146 nondelinquent controls from high schools in the city of Pittsburgh. Bone lead was measured by K-line X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy of tibia...Covariates entered into the model were race, parent education and occupation, presence of two parental figures in the home, number of children in the home and neighborhood crime rate. Separate regression analyses were also conducted after stratification on race. RESULTS: Cases had significantly higher mean concentrations of lead in their bones than controls (11.0+/-32.7 vs. 1.5+/-32.1 ppm). This was true for both Whites and African Americans... A 2001 study on lead levels in blood and 'antisocial' behaviors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11792521?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlusDrugs1 ... A prospective longitudinal birth cohort of 195 urban, inner-city adolescents recruited between 1979 and 1985 was examined. Relationships between prenatal and postnatal exposure to Pb (serial blood Pb determinations) and antisocial and delinquent behaviors (self- and parental reports) were examined. Prenatal exposure to Pb was significantly associated with a covariate-adjusted increase in the frequency of parent-reported delinquent and antisocial behaviors, while prenatal and postnatal exposure to Pb was significantly associated with a covariate-adjusted increase in frequency of self-reported delinquent and antisocial behaviors, including marijuana use. Use of marijuana itself by Cincinnati Lead Study (CLS) teens was strongly associated with all measures of delinquent and antisocial behavior. This prospective longitudinal study confirmed earlier clinical observations and recent retrospective studies that have linked Pb exposure with antisocial behavior in children and adolescents... Both of these were small (N <200), but I'd say justify larger studies to elaborate. Here's one of the 'Freakonomics' guy's take on the subject: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/did-banning-lead-lower-crime/ [Boils down to 'possibly maybe.'] This summary of two articles has some graphs and numbers supporting the hypothesis: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-10-28-lead-crime_N.htm ...a pair of studies by economist Rick Nevin that suggest the nation's violent-crime rate in the second half of the 20th century is closely tied to the widespread consumption of leaded gasoline... This is more detailed about Nevin's studies: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/07/get-the-lead-ou.html Commentary by Peter Schaeffer, the eighth and ninth down, offers counterarguments that seem pretty sound to me, except for that about 'presumably lower lead levels in rural areas'; while rural kids no doubt had less car exhaust exposure, they very likely had increased gasoline/diesel fume exposure from refilling tractors and other farm equipment. I have no idea if diesel had lead in it, but I can state absolutely that you get fuel on you, your clothes, and inhale fumes while filling farm equipment from portable fuel containers. (Very nasty indeed, even being as careful as I can - watching me refuel would make any farm kid laugh at the sissy.) Also, farm kids did/do more chorework like painting and pesticide/herbicide application than their city-living counterparts. Debbi Use Of Borax Soap Maru :P ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
