(STUDY FINDS) – When people hear the words “teenage delinquency” and “drinking” in the same sentence, it’s natural to assume the topic involves alcohol. Surprisingly, however, researchers from Duke University and Indiana University report that exposure to lead in drinking water from a young age can increase the risk of delinquent behavior as a teen.
It appears private drinking wells are a big part of this problem. The research finds that children drinking water from private wells before the age of six had higher levels of lead in their blood. Consequently, those same adolescents were 21 percent more likely to be reported for delinquency after age 14. Similarly, such teens had a 38 percent increased risk of having a run-in with law enforcement for incidents including misdemeanor assault and weapons offenses.
“We know that lead exposure early in life has been linked to lower IQ, reduced lifetime earnings and an increased risk for behavioral problems and criminal activity,” says lead study author Jackie MacDonald Gibson, chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, in a university release.
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