Lead has caused numerous health issues. It has been linked to the intellectual and behavioral development of children. Although lead has been removed from paint and petrol, it is still prevalent in the environment. The safe level of lead is 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Researchers analyzed blood of a population of 582 children up to 30 months. In these children, they found that 27% of them contracted lead levels above five micrograms. The researchers routinely checked the childrens' progress, and they assessed the academic and behavioral performance at the age of seven. The researchers concluded that the blood lead levels at 30 months showed notable associations with educational achievement, antisocial behavior and hyperactivity scores. Lead levels up to five micrograms per deciliter showed no obvious affect. However, lead levels between five and ten micrograms per deciliter were associated with profoundly lower scores for reading and writing. Lead levels above ten deciliters showed the children were almost three times as likely to display antisocial behavior patterns and be hyperactive compared to the children with the lower levels of lead.
I find it hard to believe that the childrens' behavior was impaired significantly by lead. I believe that there are too many variables to truely say that lead in the blood is the main cause. Children put everything in their mouths. So if the cause is in fact lead in the blood, parents need to be more aware of what their child puts into his or her mouth. I thought it was interesting that lead is still a big factor in development. I thought that it was not a large issue anymore. I would like to know what factors they took into account when they concluded that lead even affected the intellect and behavior of children. I think it was had a sufficient amount of information, but I would think that another article would come out and explain how to avoid high lead levels.
'Safe' lead levels harm children
I believe that high concentrations of lead have harmful effects on children. Children with more than 10 microgrammes per decilitre showed lower reading and writing development, but higher antisocial behavior and hyperactivity. I believe that the information might not take other influences to the children's behavior. Home environment and educational environment contributes to their development. The article does not state the region or conditions that the children were studied from. I think the information is important and should be closely monitored, because lead at certain levels does have negative effects. Lead levels should be widely monitored, so the global society does not develop mental disorders.
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