Frty-one million IQ points. That’s what Dr. David Bellinger determined Americans have collectively forfeited as a result of exposure to lead, mercury, and organ

Frty-one million IQ points. That’s what Dr. David Bellinger determined Americans have collectively forfeited as a result of exposure to lead, mercury, and organophosphate pesticides. " Okay, I bailed. It's rare that a lede is so bad that I'll bail -- usually I just don't click on stuff that looks like crap. But this looked interesting. Why did I bail? First, IQ points are not cumulative. It's not like you can add them all up and get anything at all useful. It's not even like we could come to a reasonable agreement that IQ points are a useful metric, but I'll just let that go. More to the point, the question isn't society overall, it's individual choice. Would you trade the loss of 2 or 3 IQ points for better food, a modern world, access to transportation, and so on? I would -- in a heartbeat. It wouldn't even be a tough decision to make. Live to 80 in a modern world full of modern conveniences while being a tiny bit less bright? Count me in. So I went into scan mode for the rest of the article. For all I know, it looked good. But I'm left believing what I already believe: Yes, there probably are some statistical clusters that warrant societal intervention. Perhaps poor people living in a lead-infested housing project next to a chemical factory. But to use terms like "Silent Pandemic" is to be terribly irresponsible. Alarmist even. It does not describe the problem in enough detail for the reader to know what to do about it, and it's just a cry for attention. Sorry. No so much.