Summary
Childhood lead exposure from leaded gasoline caused 151 million additional psychiatric illnesses in the U.S. between 1940 and 2015, according to new research.
Peak exposure occurred for Generation X (1966–1986 births) due to widespread use of leaded gasoline before its 1996 ban.
The study links lead exposure to higher rates of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and altered personality traits, including increased neuroticism and reduced conscientiousness.
Lead pollution also caused a collective loss of 824 million IQ points in Americans.
Yeah my Gen-X childhood hell started making a lot more sense when I realized just how bad the lead problem was back in the day. It also explains the huge spike in graduations literally starting the year after I would have graduated. (I bailed and got a GED easy peasy).