Adults aged 50-75 experienced highest exposure to lead from car exhaust during childhood

General
1

I’ve come across some fascinating information related to environmental health. The individuals who are now between 50 and 75 years old lived in a time when leaded gasoline was prevalent in vehicles. As a result, they were exposed to significant amounts of lead pollution during their childhood, which is critical as their brains were still developing.

I’m keen to learn about the research on the lasting impacts of this lead exposure on this age group. Have there been studies linking childhood lead exposure to ongoing health or cognitive challenges that we can observe today? It seems like an important public health topic that isn’t widely discussed.

Has anyone reviewed research comparing the cognitive abilities or health issues of those who grew up when leaded gasoline was used extensively versus those who grew up after it was phased out? I’m interested in any differences that might be evident now that this generation is in their middle age.

2

Lead exposure really left a mark on that generation. It’s eye-opening how it impacts health and cognition even now.

3

This is wild. My parents are that age and I never connected how much lead was everywhere when they were kids. Makes me wonder what we’re exposed to now that’ll turn out to be terrible in 30 years. At least we figured out the lead thing, even if it took forever.

4

Yeah the timing lines up with a lot of cognitive decline we see now. Pretty scary stuff.

5

Wild how much environmental stuff we had no clue about back then. Makes me wonder if that’s behind some of the health issues you see in older gamers.