Lead, Crime and Rudy G

This article from the Washington Post goes into the links between lead poisoning and crime. What is so fascinating about it, besides bringing reality to some of Rudy Guiliani's claims about reducing crime in New York, is how the Guiliani people were so quick to dismiss what seems to be strong scientific work. I know they are in the midst of a political campaign and without Rudy's mythology on crime and 9/11 he has very little cache, but this is precisely the kind of information that policy makers should use to make policy decisions.

For instance, if we know that adolescents with a history of lead poisoning are much more likely to commit violent crime and older criminals that were exposed to lead are more likely to be recidivist criminals it should inform our policies towards those people. Maybe a history of serious lead poisoning should be considered in parole?

It just goes to show that being tough alone is not enough to fix crime problems, human behavior is much more complex. It also goes to show that toxins in our environment can have unforeseen affects that we should spend more time trying to pin point.