HUMAN STUPIDITY/INGENUITY A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD

Today's Waterloo Region Record has an astounding Editorial as far as I'm concerned. The title is "Another view: It's time that we get the lead out". We've all known for decades that lead causes neurological harm especially in developing brains. We've all known that it's removal firstly from paint and secondly from gasoline has been a huge plus for improving mental and pysical health around the world. What I had never heard of before today is the direct, scientific link between lead exposure in childhood and criminal behaviour, especially violent behaviour. Today's Record advises us of multiple ongoing and completed studies showing a direct linkage between lead levels in young offenders versus lower lead levels in non-offenders. Furthermore crime statistics peaked approximately twenty years after levels of lead in the environment, such as homes and outside air peaked, thus indicating that lead exposed infants had reached maturity and were offending.

The ramifications to these studies are incredible including in how we treat our violent offenders. Are they solely responsible for their behaviour especially if there is scientific evidence that their childhood developing brains were damaged/affected by an environmental contaminant? Secondly what does this say to humans ability to incorporate more and more chemicals, metals, plastics into our manufacturing processes? Obviously both with paints and gasoline there was a technical or cost reason for adding lead. In gasoline it helped reduce engine knocking. Are we investigating rigourously enough beforehand? How many different compounds has mankind inflicted upon the world, only to regret it later? P.C.B.'s, DDT, Agent Orange, diacetyl, Trichloroethylene, radiation: the list goes on and on and we are still finding more damage from some we've already addressed after the fact. Science , not politics must prevail if mankind hopes to actually leave anything for future generations, much less a better world.