Leaded gasoline didn’t just pollute the air—it may have led to 150 million mental health disorders

Leaded gasoline was banned in 1996—but its disastrous effects are still being felt today.

Childhood exposure to leaded gasoline may be responsible for more than 150 million mental health disorders in Americans alive today. That’s the shocking takeaway from a recent study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. It suggests that anyone born before 1996—when leaded gasoline for passenger vehicles was finally banned—was almost certainly exposed to harmful levels of this heavy metal as a child. As a result, huge chunks of the population are walking around with at least some level of reduced cognition, and researchers believe this may help explain some troubling trends and behaviors that plague our entire society.