Headline, November 09 2024/ GLOBALLY : ''' LEAD'S POISONING LEADS '''

 

GLOBALLY : 

''' LEAD'S POISONING LEADS '''

WE DON'T HAVE SOLID DATA FROM POOR NATIONS - but it appears that roughly half of children in those countries suffer from elevated lead.

WHAT'S MORE - lead exposures at high levels can cause cardiovascular damage and other health problems, leading to an estimated 1.5 million deaths annually among adults, according to the World Health Organization.

OR more than 5 million annually according to World Bank experts. Even the lower figure would be more than the number of people dying from AIDS and malaria combined.

Yet less than $15 million a year has gone to lead poisoning in poor countries, a pittance in global terms.

But before we go forward, first a quiz:

1.-  What's a reason rooted in biology that young Americans today have higher IQs on average than those of us who grew up in the 1970s or earlier?

2.-  What kills perhaps 1.5 million people or more each year around the world?

3.-  A new American initiative aims to save vast numbers of lives around the world and add millions of points to our collective I.Q. by reducing what?

The answer to all three questions has to do with a health crisis that most people are barely aware of : '' Lead Poisoning ''.

Lead is a neurotoxin, and the dangers aren't new. Benjamin Franklin warned in 1786 about the perils of drinking rainwater that had trickled off a lead roof.

But in a disgraceful chapter in American business history, companies found that lead additives made for pretty paint colors and smooth engine performance, so in their greed they resisted regulation.

'' Lead helps to guard your health,'' one paint company declared. So vast numbers of children were poisoned, and even today half a million American children still suffer elevated lead levels threatening their brain development according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's a triumph of public health that the number isn't even higher. The United States gradually banned leaded gasoline between 1975 and 1996 and researchers believe that the result is that young people gained four to six I.Q. points compared to those poor souls like me who grew up in the age of leaded gas.

The worst affected were those born between 1966 and 1970, and one study found that overall leaded gas cost Americans a total of 824 million I.Q. points.

Since the 1980s, the share of American children with elevated lead levels has somewhat plunged.

Lead doesn't just dull brains. It's also associated with violent and uncontrolled behaviour. One theory is that a factor in the decline in crime since the 1990s was lower lead exposure.

Most lead poisoning in the United States, and even the world, comes from old paint, but tainted water from lead pipes is also a problem.

So bravo to President Biden for establishing new regulations last month to replace lead pipes in the United States within a decade.

'' Families like yours exposed to lead poisoning in our water, they deserve a hell of a lot better than they've been getting,'' Biden told a Wisconsin parent as he unveiled the new policy.

President Biden also took a little noticed international step that may be even more historic :

The administration last month announced a major global initiative to tackle lead poisoning in poor and middle-income countries where lead is an even greater problem than in the rich world.

The new Biden initiative cobbles together about $150 million, much of it from philanthropy and perhaps more important it marks an effort to take lead poisoning far more seriously.

'' I don't think that I have seen an issue in my career where we can do as much good with as few resources for as many people.'' Samantha Power, the head of U.S. Agency for International Development, told me.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on all opportunities to save or improve millions of lives, continues. The World Students Society thanks Nicholas Kristof.

With most respectful dedication to Leaders all, Mankind, the Global Founder Framers of !WOW!, and then Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on !WOW! - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world - wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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