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Researcher links lead contamination in soil with violent crime in N.O.
wwltv.com
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Updated yesterday at 10:52 PM
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
...
Dr. Howard Mielke is a Tulane University researcher who has spent his career studying lead contamination in soil across the city. While much his attention has focused on lead-based paint from years past, Mielke places a lot of the blame squarely on something else ? decades of using lead-based gasoline in cars, which began in the 1950s and was used until leaded gas was permanently banned in the United States in 1996.
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Using Census tracts as a foundation, Mielke and his team have collected more than 10,000 samples of soil from neighborhoods across New Orleans. The most recent tests included 5,500 samples and Mielke published a paper about those results late last year. When they mapped out their lead findings, they discovered a startling correlation.
"The high lead levels of the city are the areas that you tend to have the highest crime and that of course is the current situation," Mielke said.
Lead in the bloodstream can lead to behavioral problems in children. It affects the way synapses develop in a child's brain, especially the part of the brain which oversees impulse control. However, not everyone is convinced about a direct connection between lead and violent crime.
"Everyone wants a murder get-well pill," said Tulane criminologist Peter Scharf.
Scharf said the roots of violent crime run deep.
"My own view is that this is a very complex process and lead may be a part,? Scharf said. ?But really you have to look at it in comparison with other hypotheses - economic changes, cultural changes, gun laws in some cases.?
Mielke agreed that lead is not the only factor in crime, but he believes it is a major one.
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Full text:
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Tulane-Un...n-to-violent-crime-New-Orleans-191113081.html
wwltv.com
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Updated yesterday at 10:52 PM
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
...
Dr. Howard Mielke is a Tulane University researcher who has spent his career studying lead contamination in soil across the city. While much his attention has focused on lead-based paint from years past, Mielke places a lot of the blame squarely on something else ? decades of using lead-based gasoline in cars, which began in the 1950s and was used until leaded gas was permanently banned in the United States in 1996.
...
Using Census tracts as a foundation, Mielke and his team have collected more than 10,000 samples of soil from neighborhoods across New Orleans. The most recent tests included 5,500 samples and Mielke published a paper about those results late last year. When they mapped out their lead findings, they discovered a startling correlation.
"The high lead levels of the city are the areas that you tend to have the highest crime and that of course is the current situation," Mielke said.
Lead in the bloodstream can lead to behavioral problems in children. It affects the way synapses develop in a child's brain, especially the part of the brain which oversees impulse control. However, not everyone is convinced about a direct connection between lead and violent crime.
"Everyone wants a murder get-well pill," said Tulane criminologist Peter Scharf.
Scharf said the roots of violent crime run deep.
"My own view is that this is a very complex process and lead may be a part,? Scharf said. ?But really you have to look at it in comparison with other hypotheses - economic changes, cultural changes, gun laws in some cases.?
Mielke agreed that lead is not the only factor in crime, but he believes it is a major one.
...
Full text:
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Tulane-Un...n-to-violent-crime-New-Orleans-191113081.html