
Mockingbirds show heightened aggression after lead exposure - curtis
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/maf-mtr012319.php
======
hnzix
See also the Lead-Crime hypothesis, which proposes a causal relationship
between the banning of leaded petrol and a sharp decline in crime rates:

[0]
[https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/74298000/gif/...](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/74298000/gif/_74298891_lead_crime_gra624.gif)

[1]
[https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27067615](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27067615)

Leaded petrol was made possible by Thomas Midgley, who also discovered Freon
resulting in CFCs and the ozone hole.

~~~
freeflight
Imho the whole history around TEL [0] is a pretty sad example of human hubris
and our tendency to underestimate the negative impacts of our actions.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead#Controversy_and...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead#Controversy_and_phase-
out)

~~~
andrepd
Less about human hubris and more about the single drive to maximise profit to
the detriment of any other considerations. My favourite part:

 _By 2000, the TEL industry had moved the major portion of their sales to
developing countries whose governments they lobbied against phasing out leaded
gasoline._

~~~
wycs
Monsters.

~~~
maceurt
It is always weird to me how people refer to these people as monsters, but do
very little to stop their actions, and seem to actively support them if it
makes their life even slightly easier. Classifying the people who make these
decisions as monsters is stupid, because it somwhow makes them seem outliers
from the average human moral conduct. They aren't outliers. That is just
simply how most humans are or become when they are given a large amount of
power.

If we want real change we are going to have to realize that 99.9% of humans
are lazy, selfish, and err on the side of evil.

------
sschueller
The top infrastructure priority in the entire United States should be to
remove all lead pipes. It would cost a lot but it would have an enormous
effect on health and reduce crime/violence.

It would also result in a very large number of jobs.

~~~
nmeofthestate
Where I come from, the advice is to just leave them as a protective layer has
formed on the inside of the pipes through oxidation.

~~~
majjam
Where I come from, the main problem isn't the lead pipes, it's the lead solder
used on the lead pipes.

~~~
jpfed
Where I come from, the solder is not much of a problem. We paid everyone a ton
of money to replace their pipes, leaving only solder and fittings as lead
sources, and we have very little lead in our water to speak of.

[https://www.npr.org/2016/03/31/472567733/avoiding-a-
future-c...](https://www.npr.org/2016/03/31/472567733/avoiding-a-future-
crisis-madison-removed-lead-water-pipes-15-years-ago)

~~~
jhfdbkofdcho
Where I come from

[https://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470512927/before-flint-
lead-c...](https://www.npr.org/2016/03/16/470512927/before-flint-lead-
contaminated-water-plagued-schools-across-u-s)

------
lelf
The paper [http://karubian.tulane.edu/wp-
content/uploads/sites/9/2018/1...](http://karubian.tulane.edu/wp-
content/uploads/sites/9/2018/11/McClelland-et-al.-STOTEN.pdf)

------
Sileni
Always have to throw this in there when I see articles about lead exposure:

Tetraethyl lead (TEL) is still being manufactured in the UK, and being sold in
a handful of countries for consumer gasoline use. One company in the world
manufactures the material. It's an easy lookup. They've openly said they won't
stop manufacturing the material until they're forced to by government
intervention.

Leaded fuel is still being used in aviation as well, even in countries where
it has been banned for road use. The primary aircraft that require leaded fuel
are small, personal use aircraft. You're being poisoned so some rich bastards
can play in their toys.

~~~
nyolfen
there probably arent enough rich bastards in small planes to poison those of
us in the same countries as them

------
hema_n
The statement regarding lead pollution is exactly true. If the usage of lead
is reduced and stopped(which is not possible though) then everything will fall
in its place.

------
diminish
I find Lead-crime hypothesis interesting, as well as increased policing, mass
urbanization, blue collar office work.

But I also find several other reasons who might explain fall of aggression:
Abundance of porn! TV/Computers/Internet/Smartphones enabled more porn in
aggressive male population. If I'm right, then we must see lowered
testosterone levels in male population and Less change of aggression in
females in the same period. Or check if lead hypothesis enabled females to
have same level of lower aggression.

~~~
bluedino
What's with the uptick in certain areas? Do they still use leaded gas in
Baltimore and Chicago?

~~~
ceejayoz
Poorer urban areas tend to have a lot of older properties with flaky, poorly
maintained paint jobs that often include several old layers of leaded paint in
them.

Better-off areas have long since been mitigated or can afford to maintain
their buildings to prevent chips from lying around.

------
tw1010
I love HNs little obsessions. Lead causing aggression is one of them. I feel
like I've seen links about it for years, and I'm not sure I've clicked a
single one of them.

~~~
loa-in-backup
It's not something that originated here. These hypotheses are based on
correlation. That does not imply causation though.

Disclaimer: my educated guess is that there is probably a real connection
between lead and functioning of nervous system. Element particles/molecules
probably have very high ability to diffuse through complex systems due to
their small particle sizes.

