Another commenter posted it[0], but it's more likely that the banning of leaded gasoline in 1997 precipitated a drop in violent crime 15 years later.
Reductions in lead pollution => a drop in crime ~15 years later is a pretty consistent pattern around the world, regardless of what other approaches the nation's took to combat rising crime.
“The bottom line, as Drum points out, is that “even moderately high levels of lead exposure are associated with aggressivity, impulsivity, ADHD, and lower IQ. And right there, you’ve practically defined the profile of a violent young offender.” [0]
Have never heard of this research/correlation, but pretty interesting how it holds across models.
I wonder sometimes how this has effected our current politics also. With everyone born from post-WWII until the 1980 experiencing some level of lead poisoning.
Reductions in lead pollution => a drop in crime ~15 years later is a pretty consistent pattern around the world, regardless of what other approaches the nation's took to combat rising crime.
[0] https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/03/ecuador-phase...