Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Did Unleaded Gas lead to the crime reductions of the 1990s?

A new study is claiming that the removal of lead from gasoline may have more to do with the crime reductions we saw in the 1990s than any other factor. The theory goes that even small amounts of lead in the bloodstream can cause brain damage in the parts of the brain dealing with aggresion and impulse-control. Thus, by removing it from the environment, it was (demonstrably) reduced in American bloodstreams. The children born since the end of leaded gasoline would have grown up and reached their most aggressive years in the 90s. The years when crime dropped, despite the coming of teenhood of a baby boom that greatly increased the teenaged population.

At first glance, I am almost tempted to view this as an attack on Rudy Giuliani's run for president, since much of his run is based on the crime reductions he accomplished as Mayor of New York. But reading deeper, it seems like a serious study. Especially when they show that States with slower declines were those States which took longer to phase out leaded gas. At the very least, it makes you wonder what else may be out there influencing our behavior.

3 comments:

"Nick" said...

Hmmm... so I wonder if we will start to hear the "Lead Defense" along with the "Insanity Defense" in criminal cases...

Sean said...

this is actually one of the reasons i'm not so upset about a lot of the changes the greenhouse global warming freaks want to make happen even though i disagree with them on the causes of global warming. i think there are a lot of chemicals being released by technology that are really not good for people. if we reduce them then perhaps we'll see some positive changes in people - though i doubt we'll see them in the rate of global warming.

"Nick" said...

Ditto Sean. I just don't want legislation telling me I can't drive my car or taxing me for not having a hybrid. Incentives, however, are a wonderful thing!