They will not be as fragile as Gen Z (described by many researches as the generation most exposed to emotional and psychological problems), but also Generation X, those born between the mid-60s and the mid-80s, he’s not doing so well. New research published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in fact, it reveals that the lead contained in petrol until a few decades ago contributed, in all likelihood, to increasing the incidence of mental disorders in the population who breathed this toxic substance. And that those most affected, at least in the United States, would be the “Gen Z”, born just before the use of unleaded petrol became widespread.
Leaded petrol
The spread of lead in car fuels began in the 1920s, when General Motors realized that the addition of this metal (or rather a compound known as tetraedyl lead) with anti-knock properties helped to protect some parts of the engine. It was understood almost immediately that this was a dangerous practice, given that one of the engineers and several workers who had worked on lead research and the production of the additive in the American company became ill (and in some cases died) in the following years .
But given the advantage that the use of leaded petrol conferred, and the lack of certain data on the effects of exposure limited solely to car fumes, it continued to be used and indeed soon spread throughout the world. Over time, the damage caused by this toxic metal, harmful to many organs but with a marked toxicity at the brain level, was demonstrated, and this contributed to the phase out of leaded petrol starting from the 1970s, a transition which in Italy it was only concluded in 2001. For those who lived in the decades in which lead was regularly present in city smog, however, the damage had somehow already been done.
The increase in mental disorders
The new study builds on two previous studies in Chicago and New Zealand that calculated the effects of exposure to atmospheric lead on mental health. Using the incidence data that emerged from these analyses, three researchers from Duke University and Florida State University decided to calculate the costs of using leaded petrol in the United States in terms of extra cases of depression, attention deficit and hyperactivity and other psychological disorders.
By measuring annual lead emissions from transportation over a century and public exposure levels, they calculated that in total, leaded gasoline may have contributed to 151 million mental health disorders in the US population. And that those most exposed were those born between 1966 and 1986, who experienced the highest concentrations of lead in the air during their youth. The calculation is not perfect – the authors of the research themselves admit this – but it helps to put into perspective the extent of the damage that could have been produced by the reckless use of this harmful substance, which was widespread in the past also in paints and many other manufacturing products. common use. It is still widely used in car batteries and other specific areas (so much so that mining has actually continued to increase up to the present day).