The Associated Press reported on a study by Duke University researchers who examined the link between low-level lead poisoning and academic performance. The researchers looked at 35,000 Connecticut children who had shown exposure to lead in blood tests before age 7 and then looked at the fourth-grade reading and math test scores of those children.
The researchers found that children with the greatest lead exposure had the worse academic performance. They also concluded that children exposed to below acceptable established thresholds of lead performed at levels below that of their non-exposed peers.
The researchers also found it more likely that black students were exposed to lead via paint residue, dust, or other sources than white students.
