90% of children born in the U.S. between 1950 and 1981 had blood-lead levels higher than the CDC threshold.
And the researchers found a significant impact on cognitive development: on average, early childhood exposure to lead resulted in a 2.6-point drop in IQ.
Though the U.S. has implemented tougher regulations to protect Americans from lead poisoning in recent decades, the public health impacts of exposure could last for several decades, experts told the Associated Press. "I think the connection to IQ is larger than we thought and it's startlingly large," said Ted Schwaba, a researcher at the University of Texas-Austin who studies personality psychology and was not part of the new study.
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