Banning lead in gas worked. The proof is in our hair

Lead’s Effects on Health and Behavior

• Multiple comments reiterate that lead causes brain damage, especially affecting frontal lobes, increasing impulsivity and aggression and plausibly contributing to crime.
• Some ask for clearer explanation rather than relying on vague claims; others point to large existing evidence bases (not detailed in-thread).
• One skeptic notes that despite reduced lead exposure, people don’t obviously seem healthier or smarter; other commenters reject this but no hard data are provided in the thread.

Evidence from Hair and Utah Genealogy

• Commenters find the hair-archive method clever, especially in Utah, where strong genealogical traditions made it possible to link preserved hair to individuals across generations.
• This is seen as strong visual/physical confirmation of how high exposure once was and how much it has fallen.

Remaining Lead Sources (Aviation, Firearms, Fuels)

• Significant concern about leaded aviation gasoline: small planes still emit lead, especially around airports.
• There’s debate over urgency: some see a sluggish, decades-long phase‑out; others highlight recent concrete timelines (e.g., proposed 2030 targets) and genuine technical/infrastructure hurdles and safety concerns.
• Shooting ranges are cited as another major exposure source (lead bullets, lead-based primers, poor ventilation), with calls to move to lead‑free ammunition.
• Leaded race fuel and additives remain available in niche markets; avgas and classic-car use help keep TEL production alive.

Environmental Regulation: Successes, Trade‑offs, and Abuse

• Banning leaded car gasoline is held up as a textbook “good regulation”: clear harm, modest cost, easy substitution.
• Large subthread insists regulations must be evidence‑based and individually evaluated; “environmental regulation” as an all‑good or all‑bad bloc is called out as a political framing.
• Counterpoint: in practice, opposition to regulation is heavily funded by narrow economic interests that obscure or delay evidence (tobacco, lead, fossil fuels).
• Several examples of problematic or misused rules:
  • California’s CEQA and federal NEPA allegedly weaponized to block infill housing, worsening sprawl and emissions.
  • Fire suppression policies that increased fuel loads and made megafires more likely.
  • Biofuel and vehicle rules that unintentionally encouraged inefficient large trucks.
  • Bans on plastic straws and very strict wildlife/bat constraints are cited as possibly low‑benefit or overbroad.
• Others argue the bigger pattern is under‑regulation: climate change, particulates, and toxics remain inadequately controlled; dismantling EPA science capacity is viewed as dangerous.

Energy Policy: Coal, Mercury, Nuclear, Renewables

• Some extend the “lead ban worked” lesson to mercury from coal and argue coal’s remaining use is mainly political; they claim it’s now uneconomic compared with gas, solar, and wind.
• Others respond that large grids (e.g., in cold climates) still depend heavily on coal for reliability, and that retiring plants prematurely without replacements is risky.
• There’s European disagreement over whether coal is mostly tax‑burdened or genuinely uncompetitive.
• Nuclear appears as a missed opportunity to displace coal; but high costs, construction failures, and regulatory complexity make many doubt it can scale in the West. Some blame environmental rules, others blame loss of large‑project execution capability and financial risk.
• Particulate pollution (especially PM2.5) is highlighted as a major modern killer where stricter regulation would pay off.

Local Pollution, Perception, and Politics

• Personal memories: LA smog in the 1980s, “Cancer Alley” along Louisiana refineries, and historical groundwater contamination show how bad unregulated industry can be.
• A thought experiment proposes forcing executives to live near polluting plants; replies cite history (industrial cities, Cancer Alley) to argue people often accept harm when economically dependent or culturally aligned with industry.
• Several comments stress that visibility of pollution is not enough; cultural identity, media ecosystems, and elite interests shape whether people support protective regulations, even when they personally suffer.

Other Modern Toxic Exposures

• Concerns extend to lead and heavy metals in spices, cocoa, and protein powders; commenters call for criminal penalties for adulteration.
• Household products come up:
  • Switch from PTFE/Teflon to “ceramic” coatings is noticed; some dislike ceramic performance, others prefer cast iron or steel to avoid “forever chemicals.”
• There is also a brief call for rigorous trials on water fluoridation in pregnancy, with a belief that researchers avoid it due to stigma around the topic.