Green Daily

That problem you're having remembering where you parked the car may not be just a natural outcome of advancing years, but a nasty artifact of the lead-laden gasoline of your childhood.

Wired reports that new studies indicate that exposure to relatively high levels of lead early in life may lead, much later, to a brain that acts five years older than it is. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University studying lifetime acculation of lead in individuals between the ages of 50 and 70 found that people with higher levels of lead also performed less well in tests measuring mental abilities such as memory and language ability. Although researchers caution that there are other factors at work, the correlation between lead and loss of mental acuity has been found in other studies as well.

Most of the lead absorbed in older people would have resulted from breathing polluted air back in the days of leaded gasoline. The good news story here, of course, is that leaded gas was phased out in the 70's and 80's, so upcoming generations should be free of this unexpected and unpleasant side-effect. However, the studies should serve as another cautionary note that the destructive effects of things we put into our environment may not be apparent until years later.