Lead poisoning may lead to lower IQ

BANGALORE, JAN 20: The incidence of lead poisoning is high among urban children, according to the founder of George Foundation, Abraham G...

BANGALORE, JAN 20: The incidence of lead poisoning is high among urban children, according to the founder of George Foundation, Abraham George.

Addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday, Abraham said a tenth of India’s population — comprising children living in cities — lose their intellectual capacities and competitive advantage as protracted exposure to lead affects their brain.

“If Albert Einstein were to be born in a modern Indian metropolis, he would be an `average’ adult (in terms of his IQ) when he is 25-years old,” he said.

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Terming it an “invisible disease” which does not attract immediate attraction from political quarters (unlike poverty and hunger, which are visible), Abraham said the George Foundation — though `Project Lead Free’ — had established a direct link between intellectual capacity and the level of lead consumption.

Head of the Department of Bio-Chemistry and Bio-Physics at St John’s Medical College T Venkatesh said lead could enter the human body through ingestion,inhalation and absorption through the skin. Children and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to lead poisoning, he added.

Lead is mainly released by petrol-driven automobiles as oil companies use lead as an anti-knock agent in petrol. The concept of unleaded petrol (ULP) is yet to gain ground in the country as all makes of vehicles cannot run on LFP, he said.