- Reaction score
- 1,936
A history of lead in gasoline may be behind tens of millions of mental health conditions in the United States, according to new research.
“We’ve shifted the curve in the population for mental health problems, so that everyone has a greater liability in the mental illness symptoms, and that some people who were already at risk are going to develop diagnosable disorders sooner, more often or more kinds,” said coauthor of the study Dr. Aaron Reuben, assistant professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Virginia.
The study published Wednesday in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry estimates that about 151 million mental disorder diagnoses in the US are attributable to lead. The exposure likely would not have happened had lead not been in gasoline, Reuben added.
Cars ran on gasoline containing lead starting in the 1920s, and the US did not start phasing out the substance until the 1980s, after substantial evidence of harm over the decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Leaded gasoline continues to fuel some planes, race cars, and farm and marine equipment.
“We’ve shifted the curve in the population for mental health problems, so that everyone has a greater liability in the mental illness symptoms, and that some people who were already at risk are going to develop diagnosable disorders sooner, more often or more kinds,” said coauthor of the study Dr. Aaron Reuben, assistant professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Virginia.
The study published Wednesday in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry estimates that about 151 million mental disorder diagnoses in the US are attributable to lead. The exposure likely would not have happened had lead not been in gasoline, Reuben added.
Cars ran on gasoline containing lead starting in the 1920s, and the US did not start phasing out the substance until the 1980s, after substantial evidence of harm over the decades, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Leaded gasoline continues to fuel some planes, race cars, and farm and marine equipment.
