New Research find Early Exposure to Lead Pipes Can Reduce American Man's Lifespan by an Average of Three Months

Saturday, January 20th, 2024 -- 10:00 AM

(Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) New research finds that early exposure to lead pipes can reduce an American man’s lifespan by an average of almost three months.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, those are the findings from a paper co-authored by a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The results are part of a broader body of research examining conditions in childhood that may affect the longevity of Americans.

Jason Fletcher, a professor with the university’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, said researchers compared U.S. Census records of men living in cities that had lead pipes to those living in cities that used non-lead materials in the early 20th century.

Fletcher said they then linked the names and addresses of those individuals to their death records from 1975 to 2005. Fletcher said the paper did not examine women because of difficulties with linking data due to name changes when women married. The paper also cross-referenced Census data with water systems used in 761 cities between 1900 to 1930.

“We’re comparing two children born around the same time, but in different cities where one city used lead and one city didn’t,” Fletcher said. “The children born in the cities that used lead live a few months shorter lifespans than the children who were born in cities that did not use lead.”

Fletcher and co-author Hamid Noghanibehambari with Austin Peay State University found exposure to lead pipes reduced a man’s lifespan by an average of 2.7 months. Of the nearly 10 million people examined, the findings account for more than 2 million years of life lost nationwide.

To better drill down effects of exposure, researchers compared men living in lead and non-lead cities from the time they were in the womb to up to 12 years of age. Fletcher said that helps control for men who were already old enough that lead wouldn’t be a major factor in how long they might live.

Research has shown that lead exposure in early childhood can have long-lasting effects that can affect cognitive development and academic achievements later in life.

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