You’ve no doubt read the news, in the US our mental health has been damaged by lead. Not only does lead lower IQ and damage areas of the brain that control aggression, it disrupts thyroid function. Lead impairs brain growth and poisons neurons. It contributes to ADHD. It encourages cancer. Even teen-pregnancy has been linked to lead exposure. The poorer a person is, the more likely they are to have a high blood lead level but this hasn’t always been so. 

In the Colonial US, higher lead levels were found in bones of wealthy slave owners in the US than were found in their slaves. Why? Lead was used in white pottery glazes such as in dishes. Lead was applied amply to decorative pottery such as Delft. It was also used in pewter. Slaves, who had to make their own plates and had no access to leaded glazes. It was also used extensively in white paint. It was used in pipes. It gives a “ring” to wine glasses as shown below.

I used lead test swabs to follow up and the ringing glass tested positive, along with several older glassware items and a new dish from Italy. This photo shows the items with positive lead swabs, shown by a pink color.

 I decided to test all my glassware and cull the leaded items. I am a depository for hand-me-downs from the ancestors and some of them were far too materialistic. I needed some sort of reason not to keep all this burdensome stuff. The bag of leaded items will go to a recycling center or maybe a few will be used for laboratory demonstrations. 

Of note, lead in glassware was banned in the late 70s. An Alvin and the Chipmunk glass bearing a date of 1985 was lead free.

For more about lead testing at home, here is a great article. 

My question is: are we all brain damaged? The answer very well could be yes for those born not so recently. The reason is not our glassware as it is about leaded gasoline. And perhaps guns.

The link between lead and crime has been published everywhere from science journals to  Forbes to Mother Jones. Violent crime in the United States rose in the 1960s, spiked in the 90s, and has plummeted since then. Why did the generation associated with peace signs and hippies turn out to be the most violent in recent history?  Many scientists point to one reason–lead in gasoline during their childhoods.

Lead in the form of tetraethyl lead was added to gasoline in the 1920s in to help electric igniting engines operate more smoothly. It worked well despite one problem with it. The additive was known to cause “madness” and hallucinations. This had been first documented in the 1850s. In fact, workers at the first lead additive manufacturing plant died after going “looney.” Despite this, the additive worked effectively and was cheap so the companies that made it pushed forward to add it to gasoline. It was temporarily banned in parts of the nation–not the Midwest however–making the breadbasket of our nation a rich source of environmental lead. With careful marketing and lobbying by the companies that made the additive, the health effects were down-played and the new technology was given a clean bill of health by the U.S. Surgeon General in the late 1920s. Thus, leaded gasoline was heavily used across the United States for over forty years.

Analytical chemistry upped its game in the 1970s, finding that the lead persisted in the environment and in people. Many states began phasing it out in the 70s and 80s. It was banned state by state and eliminated from car gasoline in 1996.  But since it is an element, lead can’t break down into anything simpler. Scientists believe that everyone over 40 in the U.S. has some degree of lead poisoning. Lead can be cleared from blood by the body, but it resides in bones for 30 years or longer. Lead still lingers in many locations in the U.S.– thanks to corroding old pipes, old paint and even old cans and glassware. 

It’s no surprise that lead is found at high levels in shooting ranges. These are regulated by OSHA and there are rules demanding clean up but these rules are not always followed. People who work at firing ranges & those who go to firing ranges often show elevated blood lead levels, especially if the ranges are indoor ranges. Air propelled bullets and those with copper jackets can help reduce the lead exposure to an extent. Another precaution is not allowing children to engage in gun play. However, gun ownership itself is a hazard for children of gun owners and increases their blood lead levels. Yes, an adult having a gun is linked to higher blood levels in their kids.

Eating meat shot with lead is also dangerous, especially for children. Adding vinegar to game shot with lead bullets makes the lead even more soluble in the meat and increases the toxicity. However, lead in gasoline has been by far the most egregious contributor. As use was curtailed, lead in blood began to drop dramatically. Crime did as well.

Fuel for small airplanes contains lead and they are one of the major contributors to lead pollution today. However, lead in gasoline has been by far the most egregious contributor. As use was curtailed, lead in blood began to drop dramatically. Crime did as well.

The tragedy of lead poisoning in the Unites States is a sad tale of greed and lack of regulation. Every one of us has suffered to some extent from exposure to lead. The cautionary take-away is that when it comes to chemicals, we need more regulations and more care taken before approving them for use in consumer products.

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