We knew lead was toxic centuries ago, especially for kids, so we began painting our houses with it

[NNN0LHI]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead

Lead

Lead, at certain exposure levels, is a poisonous substance to animals. It damages the nervous system and causes brain disorders. Excessive lead also causes blood disorders in mammals. Like the element mercury, another heavy metal, lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates both in soft tissues and the bones. Lead poisoning has been documented from ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and ancient China.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_paint

Lead paint

Lead paint or lead-based paint (LBP) is paint containing lead, a heavy metal, that is used as pigment, with lead(II) chromate (PbCrO4, "chrome yellow") and lead(II) carbonate(PbCO3, "white lead") being the most common. Lead is also added to paint to speed drying, increase durability, retain a fresh appearance, and resist moisture that causes corrosion. However it is one of the major health and environmental issues with paint. In some countries lead continues to be added to paint intended for domestic use whereas in others regulation exists that prohibits this, though lead paint may still be found in older properties painted prior to the introduction of such regulation e.g. in the U.S. and the U.K. and Australia. Although lead has been banned in household paint since 1978, traffic paint still may contain lead. Alternatives such as water-based, lead-free traffic paint are readily available. Many states and federal agencies have changed their purchasing contracts to specify lead-free traffic marking paint.

Toxicity

Although lead improves paint performance, it is a dangerous substance. It is especially damaging to children under age six whose bodies are still developing. Lead causes nervous system damage, stunted growth, and delayed development. It can cause kidney damage and affects every organ system of the body. It also is dangerous to adults, and can cause reproductive problems for both men and women. Lead paint is particularly dangerous because it tastes sweet therefore encouraging children to put lead chips and toys with lead dust in their mouths.

One myth related to lead-based paint is that children must eat leaded paint chips to develop lead poisoning. In fact, childhood lead exposure can occur by way of ingestion of lead dust through normal hand-to-mouth contact during which children swallow lead dust dislodged from deteriorated paint or leaded dust generated during remodelling or painting.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

Lead poisoning

Lead poisoning (also known as plumbism, colica Pictonum, saturnism, Devon colic, or painter's colic) is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It interferes with the development of the nervous system and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders. Symptoms include abdominal pain, confusion, headache, anemia, irritability, and in severe cases seizures, coma, and death.

Lead poisoning was among the first known and most widely studied work and environmental hazards. One of the first metals to be smelted and used, lead is thought to have been discovered and first mined in Anatolia around 6500 BCE. Its density, workability, and corrosion-resistance were among the metal's attractions.

In the 2nd century BCE the Greek botanist Nicander described the colic and paralysis seen in lead-poisoned people. Dioscorides, a Greek physician who lived in the 1st century CE, wrote that lead makes the mind "give way".

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/07/AR2007070701073_pf.html

Research Links Lead Exposure, Criminal Activity

Data May Undermine Giuliani's Claims

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 8, 2007

Rudy Giuliani never misses an opportunity to remind people about his track record in fighting crime as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. snip

Although crime did fall dramatically in New York during Giuliani's tenure, a broad range of scientific research has emerged in recent years to show that the mayor deserves only a fraction of the credit that he claims. The most compelling information has come from an economist in Fairfax who has argued in a series of little-noticed papers that the "New York miracle" was caused by local and federal efforts decades earlier to reduce lead poisoning.

The theory offered by the economist, Rick Nevin, is that lead poisoning accounts for much of the variation in violent crime in the United States. It offers a unifying new neurochemical theory for fluctuations in the crime rate, and it is based on studies linking children's exposure to lead with violent behavior later in their lives.

What makes Nevin's work persuasive is that he has shown an identical, decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries.

[hunter]

1. Lead was in gasoline too.

Insecticides are another neurotoxin.

Poor nutrition also affects brain development.

It's a good bet that the "bad" parts of town are bad because they are poisoned.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Asbestos

House I grew up in had asbestos insulation, asbestos siding and asbestos roof shingles. Even the tile on the floor was made of asbestos.

Don

[Thor_MN]

3. Are you sure that you are not confusing modern diagnosis of ancient lead poisoning

with ancient knowledge that lead is toxic? Your subject line implies that the toxicity has been known for centuries, yet it was used anyway.