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According to researchers, childhood exposure to automobile exhaust from leaded gas took a total of 824 million IQ points from over 170 million Americans living today, accounting for more than half of the population of the United States.

Lead was originally added to gasoline in 1923 to assist keep automobile engines running smoothly.

However, the advancement of mechanical health came at the sacrifice of our personal health and well-being.

IQ decrease due to lead exposure

According to a new study, childhood exposure to automobile exhaust from leaded petrol cost more than 170 million Americans living today, or over half the population of the United States, 824 million IQ points.

Based on the results of Aaron Reuben, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at Duke University, and colleagues at Florida State University, Americans born before 1996 may now be at increased risk for lead-related health concerns, such as quicker brain aging.

Leaded gasoline for automobiles was outlawed in the United States in 1996, but the researchers claim that everyone born before the end of that era, particularly those born during its peak use in the 1960s and 1970s, had frighteningly high lead exposures as youngsters.

Lead is neurotoxic, and once in the body, it may destroy brain cells.

As a result, there is no safe level of exposure at any time in life, according to health experts.

Lead's tendency to disrupt brain growth and diminish cognitive capacity is especially dangerous for young children.

Unfortunately, no matter how old we are, our brains are ill-equipped to combat it.

Lead may enter the bloodstream after being breathed as dust, swallowed, or absorbed in water, according to Reuben via ScienceDaily.

It can enter the brain through the blood-brain barrier, which is effective at keeping many toxicants and pathogens out of the brain but not all of them.

The deadly implications of lead to people's health

According to the study, Americans born before 1996 may now be at a higher risk of lead-related health concerns, such as quicker brain aging.

According to Interesting Engineering, the researchers discovered that everyone born before the end of 1996, particularly those born during the peak of unleaded gas consumption in the 1960s and 1970s, had dangerously high levels of lead exposure as youngsters.

In 2015, more than half of the US population had clinically significant amounts of lead in their blood as youngsters.

This most likely resulted in lower IQs and put them at a larger risk for additional long-term health issues, such as diminished brain growth, a higher chance of mental illness, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

Though a few IQ points may appear insignificant, the researchers emphasized that these alterations are sufficient to classify those with below-average cognitive abilities (IQ score less than 85) as having an intellectual impairment (IQ score below 70).

Moving ahead, the researchers are examining the racial inequalities in childhood lead exposure with the hopes of highlighting the health disparities experienced by Black children, who were exposed to lead more frequently and in higher quantities than white children.

Based on prior results that individuals with high childhood lead exposure may have accelerated brain aging, Reuben's next step will be to investigate the long-term effects of past lead exposure on brain health in old age.