<another US buddy's entire family is apparently suffering from lead poisoning, and is undergoing some detoxification treatment;
i would say the trend is worrisome, and should any company be found to be responsible in some sense, its shareholders will be taken to the cleaners.>
The 20th century was a shambles, with lead everywhere, mercury in our teeth and elsewhere, dietary deficiencies galore, pollution the norm, wars pandemic.
Simply avoiding the neurotoxins will result in a 10 point IQ jump. Adding decent nutrition, with vitamins, will add another 10 points. The Flynn Effect is easy to understand.
With 6 billion healthy people [assuming H5N1 doesn't cull us] instead of 2 billion warring, poisoned, under-nutritionalized rural hillbillies, the 21st century should be phenomenal.
I used to warn BP that the lead in petrol was causing an average IQ deficit of 0.25. That doesn't sound much since people have 100 of them, but it's the last few which matter and the economic value of an IQ point in a wealthy country is about $50,000. If one could have the baby at IQ 100 and then buy extra IQ points at $50,000 each, how many would you buy for Ai Li? Imagine an IQ of 150 instead of 100. That would cost $2.5 million. Hmmm, most people couldn't afford that, but maybe the bank would give a loan because smart people produce great value and $2.5 million isn't a lot these days.
It's a lot easier to pass exams and do well with a smarter brain than more boring homework. Go surfing and pull out a bigger brain for exams! That's what I'd have liked to have done, but was too dumb and too poisoned.
You can see that IQ points are worth something like $50,000. So losing quarter of an IQ point due to lead poisoning from petrol [there are many other sources too] costs something like $10,000. The lead in petrol didn't produce anywhere near than much economic value per person. Somebody should be sued.
I used to warn BP Oil that there were potential enormous class action suits in the USA [BP bought Sohio, making the whole corporation liable, I think, though am legally ignorant].
How can a whole family get lead-poisoning these days? Paint on a house?
Roll on the 21st century.
Mqurice |
