Exposure to lead in the 20th century may have led to mental health problems among Americans, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Duke University and Florida State University studied the impact of lead in gasoline, which was first added in 1923 to help keep car engines healthy . (It was later banned on all U.S. vehicles in 1996.)
The use of lead gas is believed to have reached its peak between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s.
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The results found that children’s exposure to leaded car exhaust was leading to an imbalance in mental health in the United States, making “generations of Americans more depressed, anxious, and inattentive or hyperactive.” according to a press release from Duke.
The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, attributes approximately 151 million cases of psychiatric disorders over the past 75 years to exposure to lead gas in American children.
“The generation most exposed to lead, generation X (1965-1980), would have experienced the greatest losses in mental health,” according to the researchers. (iStock)
Americans born before 1966 experienced “high rates of mental health problems due to lead, and likely experienced changes in their personality that would have made them less successful and less resilient in life,” the researchers wrote.
“No level of security”
Lead is “neurotoxic” and can erode brain cells and impair brain function. There is therefore “no safe level of exposure at any time in life,” according to Duke.
Although young children are particularly vulnerable to the effects, researchers noted that “regardless of age, our brains are ill-equipped to keep lead toxicity at bay.”
“Lead has played a larger role in our mental health than previously thought.”
The study’s lead author, North Carolina-based Aaron Reuben, PhD, wrote in a statement that humans “are not adapted to be exposed to lead at the levels we have been exposed to over the past century “.
He added: “We have very few effective measures to combat lead once it is present in the body, and many of us have been exposed to levels 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than normal. which are natural. »
Researchers say anyone born before 1966 was “exposed to worrying levels of lead as a child.” (iStock)
“Clinically concerning”
Researchers analyzed historical data on childhood blood lead levels, lead gas consumption and U.S. population statistics, determining that more than 170 million Americans had “levels of clinical concern.” of lead in their blood when they were children in 2015.
Lead exposure has led to higher rates of mental disorders like depression and anxietybut also more “mild distress which would harm the quality of life”.
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“We have seen very significant changes in mental health over generations of Americans, meaning that many more people have suffered from psychiatric problems than if we had never added lead to gasoline,” he said. co-author Matt Hauer said in a statement.
This likely led to lower IQ, mental health issues, and other long-term problems. health complicationssuch as cardiovascular disease, the study suggests.
Experts say lead exposure can harm brain development and health, especially in children. (iStock)
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Reuben reiterated that mental health in the United States was “likely significantly influenced by Americans’ exposure to lead over the last century.”
He said: “The decrease in lead exposure has likely been offset by improvements in mental health. Lead has played a larger role in our mental health than previously thought. »
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Although the researcher said he was not surprised to find that lead was harmful, he was surprised by the “magnitude” of its effect.
“We assume our ‘lead problem’ was solved in the 1970s and 1980s, but that’s only the beginning of solving the problem,” he said.
“Lead has played a larger role in our mental health than previously thought,” one researcher (not pictured) told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Millions of Americans living today were extremely exposed to lead as children. How have these exposures influenced their life trajectory? That’s something we set out to answer.”
Reuben pointed out some limitations of the study, including that it included only two cohorts and did not study exposures from sources other than gasoline.
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“Over time, we hope that more mental health studies will become available to allow us to improve our estimates based on better lead-damage curves,” he said.
“Future studies should ideally be able to integrate exposure to lead from water and paints.
“We are beginning to understand that lead exposures from the past – even decades – can influence our health today,” one researcher wrote in a statement. (Getty Images)
The expert urged the public to take lead exposure seriously by eliminating hazards that still exist in some paints, fuels, batteries and other media.
“There are millions of Americans alive today who were extremely exposed to lead as children.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a regulation in October 2024 giving cities 10 years to replace any remaining lead plumbing.
The agency also took steps in January 2024 to reduce lead levels in the soil of residential homes across the country.
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, California child psychologist Dr. Michele Borba noted that the current youth mental health crisis in the United States has largely been attributed to social media, but this new study on he exposure to lead explores a “new area” of what could be behind deteriorating mental health.
Experts may be “overlooking” the long-term impacts of lead exposure on the mental health of today’s adults, one expert said. (iStock)
“It’s an unusual and fascinating reason that most of us have never been prepared for or even thought about – but it’s not just children’s mental health and well-being is at stake,” she said.
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“We may be neglecting other generations and the long-term impact of lead exposure.”
Borba said that while more research is needed on the topic, she recommends that other mental health experts consider lead exposure when treating patients.