Whenever Gen X's slacking, odd behavior and political derangement is noted, people wonder: was it all the lead? Experts have often been quick to say that no, it was not the lead. Well, guess what. A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry found that it might be all the lead after all.
Millions of Americans are dealing with mental disorders attributable to childhood lead exposure, the authors conclude, most of it belched in their faces by cars fueled with leaded gasoline.
"I tend to think of Generation X as 'generation lead,'" said co-author Aaron Reuben. "We know they were exposed to it more and we're estimating they have gone on to have higher rates of internalizing conditions like anxiety, depression and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder."
Reuben and researchers from Florida State University examined health survey and national gas use data to estimate the amount of lead in people from 1940 through 2015. They used that data to estimate the mental health effects of such exposures.
Researchers linked the lead exposure to an estimated 151 million "excess mental disorders" in the United States over the 75-year period. The estimates should be "considered a floor" because it relies mainly on gas and not exposure from lead in paint and pipes, Reuben said.
Here's the chart again, always re-trending as it is every time anyone born between 1960 and 1980 does anything bonkers enough to make the news. Maybe a Dem can win in 2028 by promising to bring hard white dogshit back to the streets too.
