Check out Top 10 Theories About How Biology Creates A Criminal

8 A Lot Of Crime Was Caused By Lead

Exposure to lead during pregnancy may cause infants to have reduced head sizes, headaches, lower IQs, and aggressive or dysfunctional behavior. It also reduces the gray matter in the brain responsible for activities like impulse control and thinking. Scientists calculated the amounts of lead in the environment for different years and compared that to the rates of violent crime during those years. They concluded that a higher amount of lead corresponded to a rise in violent crime two decades later. Still, correlation does not imply causation, so more research was needed.Researchers tried to determine if the removal of lead from US gasoline in the 1970s could be linked to crime in the 1990s. Gathering lead data from each state, they plotted crime rates in each area. In those states with early or sharp declines in lead, there was a corresponding drop in violent crime 20 years later and vice versa. The lead causation theory has its supporters, with some claiming that 90 percent of the crime rate in the 20th century can be traced to lead. However, others are skeptical, citing a lack of evidence. Supporters argue that there can never be direct evidence because no one is going to purposely poison children with lead.