New Proof of the Link Between Lead and Violence

For many years now there’s been a entire theory of crime that blames a large part of the rise in anti-social behavior over the last 40 years on the exposure of millions of kids to lead paint and soil. Now comes a new study from Tulane lead expert Dr. Howard Mielke that concludes levels of airborne lead dust in cities have lead to spikes in the rates of aggravated assaults. So what does sunny suburban Frisco have in common with Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Diego, Atlanta? Thanks to the Exide lead smelter, they all have elevated levels of airborne lead. After controlling for other possible causes such as community and
household income, education, policing effort, and incarceration rates, Mielke and his fellow researchers found that for every 1 per cent increase in tonnage of environmental lead
released 22 years earlier, it raised the present rate of aggravated assault
by almost half a percent. This latest information points “to a growing body of evidence that childhood exposure to lead dust causes permanent damage to regions of the brain that govern mood regulation, executive control and judgement.”  Meanwhile, it’s been three months since citizens THOUGHT the Frisco City Council was on track to amortize the almost 50-year old Exide smelter. But nothing has happened. No Board of Adjustment hearing per the usual course of action. On the other hand, Dallas has had no problem scheduling it’s own Board of Adjustment hearing on April 18th concerning the slaughterhouse that dumped pig’s blood in the Trinity River. Dallas is acting quickly to deal with its public nuisance. Frisco is not. with so much on the line, citizens should be asking questions.