Lead exposure in children linked to violent crime

A study finds that even low levels of lead permanently damage the brain. The research also shows that exposure is a continuing problem despite efforts to minimize it.

By Thomas H. Maugh II and Marla Cone
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
May 27, 2008

The first study to follow lead-exposed children from before birth into adulthood has shown that even relatively low levels of lead permanently damage the brain and are linked to higher numbers of arrests, particularly for violent crime.

Previous studies linking lead to such problems have used indirect measures of both lead and criminality, and critics have argued that socioeconomic and other factors may be responsible for the observed effects.

But by measuring blood levels of lead before birth and during the first seven years of life, then correlating the levels with arrest records and brain size, Cincinnati researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that lead plays a major role in crime.

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