This report is simply outstanding. When industry added lead to gasoline, it already knew that children were dying from environmental lead paint poisoning. They admitted as much in a paper published by doctors in Boston (McChan and Vogt) and from internal corporate documents. Lanphear shows that putting the burden of proof on the public to prove harm, instead of requiring industry to prove safety before unleashing an environmental poison, is a crime against children and ends up contributing to our decline as a civilization.
I first noticed it (in particular a recent crime wave) in Ecuador. Years before, testing found elevated BLL from canned food---possibly Pb solder leaching into the food.
But it is very large scale. Look at Haiti, unleaded petrol since 1999, current crime wave. I think it started with the US/Canadian/French coup/UN (MINUSTAH---hyper criminality---see Kevin Pina’s works) occupation, with large Brazilian and Argentine contingents. Given the hypercriminality of Haiti’s Lebanese elites (example: cough syrup containing engine antifreeze, oligarch gets sued, so he hires a hitman to kill remaining survivors), I could see them importing Pb adulterated food wilfully.
It’s heartbreaking to realize how much suffering could have been prevented had we acted on the dangers of lead exposure sooner. Instead of removing a known neurotoxin from our environment, we ignored the science, allowed generations of children to be poisoned, and then criminalized the consequences of that neglect. Rather than investing in prevention, we built prisons. We punished behavior shaped in part by our own environmental policies. This wasn’t just a public health failure—it was a moral one. The cost in human potential, community trust, and public resources is incalculable. It’s long past time to reckon with that history and prioritize real, systemic prevention.
Thank you, Paul—for your service and for this powerful, elegant testimony. You’ve captured not just a public health failure, but a moral reckoning we’ve yet to fully face. Your words lay bare the cost of inaction: not only in damaged lives, but in lost trust and squandered potential. It may not happen immediately, but what we need is a 20-year strategy to eliminate lead poisoning—for good. Here’s to telling the truth—and doing better.
Excellent report. What this gives us is somewhere to point to when telling journalists and policy makers how lead exposure and crime are related - and the consequential societal costs.
Tim—thank you. I was Caroline Fraser’s “conversation partner” last night at Town Hall Seattle, with about 150 to 200 people in the audience. It was a great reading, with excellent questions—surprisingly, about half were directed at me. It reminded me how powerful a great book can be as a gateway to science. Caroline invited me because she had read my Substack posts. Substack is a lot of work, but it’s opening new doors. I’ve long wondered how to make lead poisoning—and the broader science of toxic chemicals—feel more urgent to the public. Movies like Dark Waters and books like Murderland show that partnering with great storytellers is one way to do it.
This report is simply outstanding. When industry added lead to gasoline, it already knew that children were dying from environmental lead paint poisoning. They admitted as much in a paper published by doctors in Boston (McChan and Vogt) and from internal corporate documents. Lanphear shows that putting the burden of proof on the public to prove harm, instead of requiring industry to prove safety before unleashing an environmental poison, is a crime against children and ends up contributing to our decline as a civilization.
Thank you. Perfect timing for a post I am working on.
It is amazing how the same tricks get played over and over again. Pb in food:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996919305575
Johan: Once lead is loosed into the world, there’s no keeping it out of our food.
There is that aspect, but knowing how criminal companies can be, I would not discount deliberate addition.
Johan: I hope those are rare events.
https://www.cgdev.org/blog/whats-causing-widespread-lead-exposure-developing-countries
I first noticed it (in particular a recent crime wave) in Ecuador. Years before, testing found elevated BLL from canned food---possibly Pb solder leaching into the food.
But it is very large scale. Look at Haiti, unleaded petrol since 1999, current crime wave. I think it started with the US/Canadian/French coup/UN (MINUSTAH---hyper criminality---see Kevin Pina’s works) occupation, with large Brazilian and Argentine contingents. Given the hypercriminality of Haiti’s Lebanese elites (example: cough syrup containing engine antifreeze, oligarch gets sued, so he hires a hitman to kill remaining survivors), I could see them importing Pb adulterated food wilfully.
Yikes!
It’s heartbreaking to realize how much suffering could have been prevented had we acted on the dangers of lead exposure sooner. Instead of removing a known neurotoxin from our environment, we ignored the science, allowed generations of children to be poisoned, and then criminalized the consequences of that neglect. Rather than investing in prevention, we built prisons. We punished behavior shaped in part by our own environmental policies. This wasn’t just a public health failure—it was a moral one. The cost in human potential, community trust, and public resources is incalculable. It’s long past time to reckon with that history and prioritize real, systemic prevention.
Thank you, Paul—for your service and for this powerful, elegant testimony. You’ve captured not just a public health failure, but a moral reckoning we’ve yet to fully face. Your words lay bare the cost of inaction: not only in damaged lives, but in lost trust and squandered potential. It may not happen immediately, but what we need is a 20-year strategy to eliminate lead poisoning—for good. Here’s to telling the truth—and doing better.
Excellent report. What this gives us is somewhere to point to when telling journalists and policy makers how lead exposure and crime are related - and the consequential societal costs.
A good choice of Tom Waits. I also offer "Silent Killer" from the album "Drop The Lead" by the Refresh Collective. https://soundcloud.com/refreshcollective/silent-killer.
Tim—thank you. I was Caroline Fraser’s “conversation partner” last night at Town Hall Seattle, with about 150 to 200 people in the audience. It was a great reading, with excellent questions—surprisingly, about half were directed at me. It reminded me how powerful a great book can be as a gateway to science. Caroline invited me because she had read my Substack posts. Substack is a lot of work, but it’s opening new doors. I’ve long wondered how to make lead poisoning—and the broader science of toxic chemicals—feel more urgent to the public. Movies like Dark Waters and books like Murderland show that partnering with great storytellers is one way to do it.
Great writing and exposition of scientific backup.True crime story!
This is a great (if grim) survey of this vast and profound scandal. Many thanks.
HalSF: Thank you for your comment. It is hard to keep up with all the scandals; it would easier to list the big corporations WITHOUT a scandal.