Lead in gasoline reduced IQ of 170 million Americans, study shows

The use of lead in gasoline will have catastrophic consequences on the health of millions of people, especially on the brain development of children. According to one study, 824 million IQ points have been lost in the United States alone.

Although some cities choose to remove gas stations, these days, all pumps display their credentials with their unleaded fuel. But there was a time when consumption of tetraethyl lead fuel was seen as the most common thing in the world. Time to take stock: According to a study published in 2022, the IQ of millions of Americans has decreased due to lead in gasoline.

Researchers from the University of Florida and Duke University looked at cases of people born before 1996, the year lead in gasoline was banned in the United States. The study has been published in a scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

, showing that half of the current population of the United States is affected. An average of 2.6 IQ points per person, the total loss is 824 million IQ points.

Lead in gasoline has affected the development of millions of children

In the pages of NBC, the lead author of the study, Michael McFarland, explains that an IQ difference of 2 to 3 points is not dramatic, unless the person is below average. “If a person is close to cognitive disorders, some issues can be very important“, he says. But this loss of 2 to 3 points is just an average.

Indeed, the IQ loss is steeper for those born between 1960 and 1980. They would have suffered an average loss of 6 to 7 points. At the time, car use was exploding and with it consumption of leaded fuel, out of control.

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The study did not say whether people living in cities are more affected than others. It’s hard not to think: Lead in fuel is simply spread by breathing exhaust gases. In France, the consequences of using leaded gasoline are probably somewhat less. In fact, cars came into use there later than in the United States.

The health consequences of lead in gasoline are catastrophic

Since the 1970s, there has been an awareness of the use of lead in gasoline. The element improved engine performance, until its dire health consequences were discovered. Because lead not only lowers the IQ of children (and adults), it also promotes the onset of heart and kidney diseases. It is now being replaced by safer alternatives.

These are not the only sad consequences for the health of the car. Sins from which even electric versions are not free. With their heavy batteries, electric cars worsen microparticle pollution from tires.