4 ms·

What is the lead crime hypothesis?

chrisseaton 5y ago
The abstract of the paper describes it.
dcminter 5y ago
Lead (Pb) the metal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesi...
toxik 5y ago
Lead causes people to behave aggressively and erratically. The idiom “mad as a hatter” comes from the fact that hatters were around lead a lot for some reason I forgot. Edit: Ah, apparently it was mercury, not lead. Cute anecdote anyway.
- dcminter 5y ago
  I think you're confusing lead with mercury for the hat-making connection.
  - nytgop77 5y ago
    why do you need either of those for making a hat?
    - Spooky23 5y ago
      When felt was made from animal fur, it made it easier and less gross the remove the hair from the hide and soften it. Previously, urine was used.
      - lostlogin 5y ago
        Yikes. Knowing what we know now, is mercury the worse option?
        Spooky23 5y ago
        It depends. Urine is not pleasant, but is usually safe to work with. I’d rather smell than suffer brain damage. :)
        redis_mlc 5y ago
        Urine is cleaned by the kidneys. Surgeons drain the urethra directly into the body during kidney surgery because it's antiseptic. So urine is not gross or dirty. (Some idiotic US town a few years ago considered draining their large water reservoir because a teen urinated from the bank. Nevermind that fish and birds do that all day long. But the residents had no common sense.)
    - snowmanbob 5y ago
      shiny when applied to silk.
- cafard 5y ago
  Hatters used mercury, not lead.
- Tade0 5y ago
  I knew a person who suffered from lead poisoning (long term occupational exposure). She wasn't aggressive in any way, just not really "here".
  - arbitrage 5y ago
    Did she ever get better?
    - Tade0 5y ago
      Unfortunately not. Or, any chance for that was lost when she had a stroke.
  - Gauge_Irrahphe 5y ago
    Lead is needed for the brain. The person is fully there (in fact more than before) they only stop uncontrollably reacting to everything, and stand straight, instead of being all wobbly.
- api 5y ago
  Mercury and lead poisoning have similar effects.
veqz 5y ago
"The lead–crime hypothesis is the association between elevated blood lead levels in children and increased rates of crime, delinquency, and recidivism later in life."[1] Basically, during the 20th Century, lead were used in a lot of products, including gasoline and paint. To shocking surprise, it turned out that this lead slowly ended up in our environment, and built up in our bodies. The hypothesis is that because virtually the entire population got lead poisoned, we became more affected by "learning disabilities, decreased I.Q., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and problems with impulse control", which again leads to more crime. Lead was eventually phased out (no thanks to the companies behind the products), and this correlated with a drop in US crime-rates in the early 1990s. Since then there's been lots of discussion on why the crime rate dropped. The removal of lead from the environment is one (an alternative, but not mutually exclusive, hypothesis is the legalized abortion and crime effect[2]). [Personally, I've been wondering how this also affects other qualities of the people affected... Would people born before the 1970s have been more intelligent than they are currently? Could this have given us better political leadership, and better secondary and tertiary effects?] 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–crime_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–crime_hypothesis 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_e...
- cptnapalm 5y ago
  I wonder when someone will see if the rise of home gaming consoles had an effect. A Nintendo effect, if you will.
- Gauge_Irrahphe 5y ago
  Why did the most enormous progress happen when this poisoning was widespread? And it wasn't only once but at least twice: In Ancient Rome lead was also widely used. The whole idea of "chronic toxicity" is bunk. It will eventually turn out that lead is essential.
lostlogin 5y ago
Some good article here - but this is my favourite. https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposur...
- SeanLuke 5y ago
  By the same author.
pvaldes 5y ago
Poisoning with lead has been linked with sudden rage attacks and homicides. Lead affects the nervous system.

The abstract of the paper describes it.

Lead (Pb) the metal. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesi...

toxik 5y ago

Lead causes people to behave aggressively and erratically. The idiom “mad as a hatter” comes from the fact that hatters were around lead a lot for some reason I forgot. Edit: Ah, apparently it was mercury, not lead. Cute anecdote anyway.

dcminter 5y ago
I think you're confusing lead with mercury for the hat-making connection.
- nytgop77 5y ago
  why do you need either of those for making a hat?
  - Spooky23 5y ago
    When felt was made from animal fur, it made it easier and less gross the remove the hair from the hide and soften it. Previously, urine was used.
    - lostlogin 5y ago
      Yikes. Knowing what we know now, is mercury the worse option?
      - Spooky23 5y ago
        It depends. Urine is not pleasant, but is usually safe to work with. I’d rather smell than suffer brain damage. :)
      - redis_mlc 5y ago
        Urine is cleaned by the kidneys. Surgeons drain the urethra directly into the body during kidney surgery because it's antiseptic. So urine is not gross or dirty. (Some idiotic US town a few years ago considered draining their large water reservoir because a teen urinated from the bank. Nevermind that fish and birds do that all day long. But the residents had no common sense.)
  - snowmanbob 5y ago
    shiny when applied to silk.
cafard 5y ago
Hatters used mercury, not lead.
Tade0 5y ago
I knew a person who suffered from lead poisoning (long term occupational exposure). She wasn't aggressive in any way, just not really "here".
- arbitrage 5y ago
  Did she ever get better?
  - Tade0 5y ago
    Unfortunately not. Or, any chance for that was lost when she had a stroke.
- Gauge_Irrahphe 5y ago
  Lead is needed for the brain. The person is fully there (in fact more than before) they only stop uncontrollably reacting to everything, and stand straight, instead of being all wobbly.
api 5y ago
Mercury and lead poisoning have similar effects.

veqz 5y ago

"The lead–crime hypothesis is the association between elevated blood lead levels in children and increased rates of crime, delinquency, and recidivism later in life."[1] Basically, during the 20th Century, lead were used in a lot of products, including gasoline and paint. To shocking surprise, it turned out that this lead slowly ended up in our environment, and built up in our bodies. The hypothesis is that because virtually the entire population got lead poisoned, we became more affected by "learning disabilities, decreased I.Q., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and problems with impulse control", which again leads to more crime. Lead was eventually phased out (no thanks to the companies behind the products), and this correlated with a drop in US crime-rates in the early 1990s. Since then there's been lots of discussion on why the crime rate dropped. The removal of lead from the environment is one (an alternative, but not mutually exclusive, hypothesis is the legalized abortion and crime effect[2]). [Personally, I've been wondering how this also affects other qualities of the people affected... Would people born before the 1970s have been more intelligent than they are currently? Could this have given us better political leadership, and better secondary and tertiary effects?] 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–crime_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–crime_hypothesis 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_e...

cptnapalm 5y ago
I wonder when someone will see if the rise of home gaming consoles had an effect. A Nintendo effect, if you will.
Gauge_Irrahphe 5y ago
Why did the most enormous progress happen when this poisoning was widespread? And it wasn't only once but at least twice: In Ancient Rome lead was also widely used. The whole idea of "chronic toxicity" is bunk. It will eventually turn out that lead is essential.

lostlogin 5y ago

Some good article here - but this is my favourite. https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposur...

SeanLuke 5y ago
By the same author.

pvaldes 5y ago

Poisoning with lead has been linked with sudden rage attacks and homicides. Lead affects the nervous system.