Lead, Crime & The Poor

Yesterday was the annual Healthy Homes Bus Tour. We heard a lot about lead poisoning. And I’ve been reading more on the web this morning. The relationship between lead poisoning and crime is disturbing.

There’s a “highly significant link between lead toxicity and the likelihood of criminal activity.” There’s a link between lead and ADHD. Between lead and alcoholism and substance abuse. Between lead and violent crime rates and unwed pregnancy rates. Between lead and homicide. Between lead and low IQ scores. Between lead and psychopathy.

Who gets lead poisoning? Poor children living in older homes are at the greatest risk. Poverty limits housing choices. And black and Hispanic children living in older homes have a disproportionately higher level of lead than white children in comparable housing.

In the United States, blacks are incarcerated at a disproportionately higher rate than whites. And blacks also have a disproportionately higher poverty rate than whites. Black children and poor children suffer the highest rate of lead toxicity in the U.S. Connect those dots.

I’m obviously not the first to make the connection, but why don’t we talk more about environmental factors when we’re talking about crime? The damage from lead poisoning is irreversible. Allowing children to live in toxic homes is setting them up for failure.

I encourage you to support the work of the Greensboro Housing Coalition and other organizations that do anti-poverty work.