Can the 30%+ drop in crime rates in the 90s be traced back to the removal of lead from gasoline 20 years earlier?

That's the conclusion of a study by economists Rick Nevin and Jessical Wolpaw Reyes reported in today's Chicago Tribune. While some criminologists are skeptical, others say the research is compelling. And it "warns against complacency in our efforts to remove lead from the environment, given the strong neurological effects observed even at low exposures. " Which, of course, means, take those lead-laden toys from China as a serious threat to our children's brains and 20 years from now, our safety.

A footnote: The piece in the Trib was written by a reporting intern who is a neurobiology graduate student at the University of Chicago. Now, isn't that more important than the "community journalism" too many papers are pursuing that gives us personal photos of family vacations and recitals?

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