Toxins, Brain Chemistry, and Behavior

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> Toxins, Brain

> Chemistry, and Behavior

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> Toxins, Brain Chemistry, and Behavior

> By Dr. Roger D. Masters and Myron Coplan

> I. The Problem

> During the last two decades, evidence has

> accumulated that the interaction

> of environmental pollution, poor diet, and lifestyle

> contributes to the

> exceptionally high rates of violent crime in many

> American cities.

> Lead intoxication, even at low levels, correlates

> with aggressive behavior

> as well as learning disabilities. Manganese, a toxin

> that at high levels of

> exposure contributes to Parkinsonism, has also been

> linked to violent

> behavior (especially thanks to research by the

> Violence Research

> Foundation).

> Effects of lead and manganese interact, moreover, so

> that individuals

> exposed to both show stronger effects than those

> exposed to either one

> alone. Alcohol and drug use, often associated with

> violent crime, increase

> the deleterious effects of toxic metals through

> complex biochemical

> interactions at the cellular level.

> These chemicals compromise the serotonin, dopamine,

> and other

> neurotransmitter systems that are integral to

> self-control due to their

> effects in lowering thresholds for violent behavior.

> Environmental pollution does not impact everyone

> equally. Brain cells absorb

> toxic metals when diets are low in calcium, iron,

> zinc, Vitamin D, and other

> essential nutrients. Prenatal exposure to lead and

> alcohol can result in

> premature or low weight births, small head

> circumferences and learning or

> behavioral deficits.

> Bottle-feeding with commercial formulas, especially

> soy exposes infants to

> four or five times as much manganese uptake as

> breast milk, a finding that

> suggests why studies show breast fed infants have IQ

> scores 2 to 8 points

> higher than comparable babies fed infant formula.

> In addition to direct effects of poor diet on

> children's behavior,

> nutritional deficits thus probably combine with

> exposure to toxic metals to

> increase the likelihood of attention deficit

> disorder (ADD), hyperactivity,

> and other learning deficits.

> In addition, because the problems of poverty and

> broken families often

> co-vary with inadequate diet, housing with lead

> paint, and aging water

> systems, as well as inadequate prenatal health care,

> high rates of bottle

> feeding, and exposure to industrial pollution, poor

> urban populations are at

> risk for neurotoxicity in multiple ways.

> The neurotoxicity hypothesis is strongly grounded in

> findings from a number

> of laboratory studies and observations of human

> behavior. In seven different

> groups of prison inmates, violent criminals had

> substantially higher levels

> of lead or manganese in their hair than nonviolent

> criminals or law-abiding

> controls.

> Otherwise puzzling geographical differences in rates

> of violent crime in the

> U. S. are highly correlated with environmental

> pollution and death rates

> from

> alcoholism. Counties in which the EPA did not report

> industrial releases of

> either lead or manganese, and where alcoholism was

> lower than average, had a

> rate of 228 violent crimes per 100,000 people (well

> under the national

> average).

> In contrast, counties with industrial releases of

> lead and manganese and

> higher than average alcoholism had rates of violent

> crime of 969 per 100,000

> (three times above the national average). (The

> statistics linking

> differences in the rate of violent crime to lead, to

> manganese, and to

> alcoholism would each occur by chance less than once

> per 10,000 times.)

> Controlling for 17 other factors, including

> population density, poverty, and

> ethnic composition, the three sources of

> neurotoxicity are significantly

> associated with violent crime.

> II. Current Research

> With the support of a grant from the Environmental

> Protection Agency,

> current work is exploring a number of ways that

> toxic pollution affects the

> public.

> Data from a number of surveys of children's blood

> lead are being combined

> with socio-economic and demographic data from the US

> Census Bureau, health

> data from the Center of Disease Control, pollution

> data from the EPA, and

> crime data from the FBI. Our research has considered

> the extent to which

> lead is being absorbed by humans due to:

> a) water treatment procedures

> b) industrial releases of lead and other toxins

> c) plumbing systems, leaded paint, and other sources

> of lead associated with

> old housing

> d) other sources, such as lead residues in soil,

> that are particularly

> common in the center of some American cities

> e) dietary habits (such as shortages of calcium and

> iron) and demographic

> factors (such as poverty, stress, and minority

> ethnicity) which are known to

> be associated with increased risk of lead uptake

> In addition, we have analyzed annual crime rates to

> show that the ban on

> leaded gasoline rates appears to have led to a

> decline in violent crime

> rates after 1991. (The time delay of 17 years

> between reductions in sales of

> leaded gas and rates of violence indicates that, for

> the particulate lead in

> such gas exhaust, the serious effects were

> apparently during fetal

> development and the first year of life.)

> In addition, geographical variations in lead levels

> in children's blood are

> being studied as a factor that might explain rates

> of crime, educational

> failure and disease that are unusually high.

> We have also been considering " risk co-factors " that

> make lead and other

> toxic metals in the environment more dangerous to

> local residents.

> Here our emphasis has been on the use of

> silicofluorides as agents in water

> treatment. There are two reasons for this focus.

> First, both fluosilicic acid and sodium

> silicofluoride are toxins that are

> used in water delivered to 140 million Americans

> even though the EPA has

> admitted that their effects on health and behavior

> have never been studied.

> German research has revealed that these chemicals do

> not dissociate

> completely when added to water -- and both leave

> potentially toxic residues

> that have important chemical effects.

> In studying the correlations between the use of

> these chemicals and crime,

> disease, and behavioral dysfunction, we seek to

> establish clearly whether or

> not these compounds are poisoning the public.

> Second, the silicofluorides apparently function to

> increase the cellular

> uptake of lead and other toxic metals, such as

> manganese; confirming

> correlations between silicofluorides and lead uptake

> should thus clarify the

> extent to which these compounds are risk cofactors

> for toxicity and other

> hazardous effects.

> III. Results to date

> Our analysis of blood lead data from Massachusetts,

> New York State, and the

> NHANES National Sample has revealed several

> important findings that concern

> violent behavior as well as other health issues.

> 1. Communities with a higher percentage of children

> having blood lead over

> 10 mg/dL are significantly more likely to have

> higher rates of violent crime

> and higher rates of educational failure.

> 2. Communities using either fluosilicic acid

> (H2SiF6) or sodium

> silicofluoride (NaSiF6) have significantly higher

> rates of crime than those

> using sodium fluoride or delivering unfluoridated

> water (with the exception

> of towns with naturally fluoridated water).

> 3. The use of fluosilicic acid (H2SiF6) to

> fluoridate public water supplies

> significantly increases the amounts of lead in the

> water (whereas the use of

> sodium silicofluoride (NaSiF6) or sodium fluoride

> (NaF) does not.

> 4. There is no linear relationship between the

> amount of lead in a

> community's public water supply (as measured by

> current methods of

> determining " 90th percentile first draw water lead " )

> and the rates of

> violent or property crime.

> IV. Implications

> If these research hypotheses are confirmed, it

> should be possible to target

> both criminal and civil environmental enforcement

> strategies in a way that

> produces major public health benefits by reducing

> exposure and absorption of

> lead pollution and thereby reducing violent crime,

> learning disorders. and

> such diseases as hypertension.

> In the past, questions have been raised about the

> need to regulate

> industrial releases of lead and some have doubted

> that chronic exposure to

> low levels of lead pollution actually harm humans.

> Other efforts, such as

> the removal of leaded paint from old houses, have

> also been subjected to

> criticism on the grounds that they actually release

> more lead into the

> environment.

> Evidence from our research supports efforts to

> remove lead from the

> environment and indicates ways their effectiveness

> could be improved. In

> addition, our studies suggest some relatively

> inexpensive non-enforcement

> interventions, such as ending or modifying water

> fluoridation procedures

> using silicofluorides.

> For all these reasons, environmental protection will

> be greatly enhanced by

> the acquisition of more comprehensive evidence of

> how environmental sources

> of lead and the risk cofactors for lead uptake are

> correlated with disease,

> crime, and behavioral dysfunction.

> The neurotoxicity hypothesis implies the benefits of

> a biomedical and

> dietary approach to educational failure, crime, and

> social deviance. Studies

> show IQ increases of as much as 15 points among

> children with poor diets who

> are given vitamin supplements.

> Removal of lead ( " chelation " ) and other methods of

> biochemical normalization

> have also been found to improve behavior and

> learning.

> High lead uptake is often a factor among children

> who are hyperactive

> (ADHD). As a result, instead of using Ritalin to

> treat ADHD, specialists at

> the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Illinois have found

> that treatments to

> reduce levels of lead and other toxins provide

> lasting improvement without

> medication.

> Other studies indicate that the successes of Head

> Start may have been in

> good part to its nutritional component.

> Because many children do not continue to benefit

> from balanced diets after

> Head Start, poor nutrition may explain the

> frequently observed declines in

> educational performance after these programs have

> been completed.

> Interventions such as good neonatal care,

> breast-feeding, vitamin

> supplements, and school lunches might therefore

> improve educational

> performance, as well as reduce violence and social

> disintegration.

> The neurotoxicity hypothesis provides a new and

> potentially crucial

> dimension to accepted theories of crime. Factors

> like poverty, population

> density, social disintegration, race, easy access to

> guns, and violence on

> TV are obviously important contributors to violence,

> yet they do not effect

> everyone the same way.

> Studies of the behavioral impact of heavy metals can

> increase our knowledge

> of why these factors influence some individuals more

> than others. Crime

> prevention, better systems for screening prison

> inmates for potential

> violence, and cost-effective parole or probation

> options are all attractive.

> At the same time, the implications of the

> neurotoxicity hypothesis for our

> social, education, and legal systems are enormous.

> This approach does not

> excuse crime on the grounds of biochemistry.

> If poor diet and alcoholism contribute to learning

> disabilities and crime,

> this information ought to have the same status as

> knowing that drinking and

> driving do not mix. Given advances in neuroscience,

> dare we ignore the

> behavioral effects of neurotoxicity when this

> knowledge promises more

> effective crime prevention -- and perhaps also more

> effective

> rehabilitation -- than current methods?

>

>

>

> Publications on Silicofluorides, Neurotoxicity, and

> Behavior

> Masters, R,, Hone, B, and Doshi, A. (1998).

> " Environmental Pollution,

> Neurotoxicity, and Criminal Violence, " in J. Rose,

> ed., Environmental

> Toxicology: Current Developments (London: Gordon and

> Breach, 1998), pp.

> 13-48.

> Survey of evidence linking lead and manganese

> neurotoxicity to aggressive

> behavior and crime, presenting multivariate analysis

> correlating Toxic

> Release Inventory for lead and manganese with crime

> data for 1991 from all

> 3141 US counties Emphasizes effects of heavy metals

> on neurotransmitter

> function and behavior.

> Masters, Roger D., with Baldwin Way, Brian T. Hone,

> David J. Grelotti, David

> Gonzalez, and David Jones (1998) " Neurotoxicity and

> Violence, " Vermont Law

> Review, 22:358-382.

> Legal implications of the evidence linking

> neurotoxicity and crime

> (including data from Toxic Release Inventory and

> crime for partial sample of

> US counties)

> Masters, R. and Coplan, M. (1999a) " Water Treatment

> with Silicofluorides and

> Lead Toxicity, " International Journal of

> Environmental Studies, 56: 435-49

> First published analysis of data linking

> silicofluoride treatment of public

> water supplies with higher uptake of lead, focused

> on survey of children's

> blood lead in Massachusetts (by town).

> Masters, R. and Coplan, M. (1999b) " A Dynamic,

> Multifactorial Model of

> Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Crime: Linking Neuroscience

> and Behavior to

> Toxicology, " Social Science Information, 38:591-624.

> Articulation of the linkages between neurotoxicity,

> brain chemistry,

> environmental pollution, and behavior (with focus on

> substance abuse and

> crime), using data from National Institute of

> Justice study of drug use in

> over 30,000 criminal offenders at time of arrest).

> Data show that where silicofluorides are in use,

> criminals are more likely

> to consume alcohol, more likely to have used cocaine

> at time of arrest - and

> that communities have significantly higher crime

> rates.

> Coplan, M. J. And Masters, R. D. (1999). " Is

> Silicofluoride Safe? Comments

> Re

> EPA Response to Rep. Calvert's Inquiry " Submission

> to Representative Kenneth

> Calvert, Subcommittee on Energy and Science,

> Committee on Science, U. S.

> House of Representative (August 12, 1999).

> Analysis and rejoinder to letter dated 12 June 1999

> from J. Charles Fox,

> Assistant Administrator, EPA, to Hon. Kenneth

> Calvert, U. S. House of

> Representative, commenting on errors and omissions

> in a " Question and

> Answer " statement and " Fluorosilicate Fact Sheet "

> enclosed by Mr. Fox.

> This document contains a preliminary review of

> scientific data on the

> differences between sodium fluoride (NaF) and the

> silicofluorides (H2SiF6

> and Na2SiF6), with an emphasis on the complex

> production process and

> chemical interactions of the latter compounds.

> Masters, R. D. and Coplan, M. J., with Hone, B. T.,

> Grelotti, D. J.,

> Gonzalez, D. and Jones, D. (in press). " Brain

> Biochemistry and the Violence

> Epidemic: Toward a 'Win-Win' Strategy for Reducing

> Crime, " in Stuart Nagel,

> ed., Super-Optimizing Examples Across Public Policy

> Problems (NOVA Science

> Publishers) (in press).

> Review of the evidence linking neurotoxicity and

> crime, using data from both

> county-level study (correlating EPA Toxic Release

> Inventory with FBI crime

> reports ) and Massachusetts data on silicofluorides

> and lead uptake.

> Masters, RD and Coplan, M. J. (1999c). " The Triune

> Brain, the Environment,

> and Human Behavior: Hommage to Paul MacLean, " to

> appear in Russell Gardner,

> ed. Festschrift in Honor of Paul MacLean . First

> presented at Back Bay

> Hilton Hotel, Boston, Mass. - July 16, 1999; volume

> publication anticipated

> 2002-3.

> Survey of research on neurotoxicity, brain chemistry

> and behavior, including

> evidence of the role of lead and other heavy metal

> pollution and crime (as

> demonstrated by individual data, neurochemistry, and

> both geographic and

> longitudinal data} as well as survey of data linking

> silicofluorides to

> enhanced lead uptake.

> First presentation of findings on the extremely high

> correlation (r = .90)

> between gallons of leaded gasoline sold and the

> crime rates sixteen years

> later, confirming special vulnerability of pregnant

> mothers and newborns to

> lead toxicity.

> Masters, RD, Coplan, M. J., Hone, B. T., And Dykes,

> J. E.

> (2000). " Association

> of Silicofluoride Treated Water with Elevated Blood

> Lead, " Neurotoxicology

> 21: 101-1100.

> Follow-up epidemiological study of the association

> between silicofluoride

> treated community water and enhanced child blood

> lead parameters. This

> statistical study of 151,225 venous blood lead (VBL)

> tests taken from

> children ages 0-6 inclusive, living in 105

> communities with populations from

> 15,000 to 75,000 in New York state, shows for every

> age and racial group a

> significant association between siliocfluoride

> treated community water and

> elevated blood lead.

> Roger D. Masters (2001) " Biology and Politics, " in

> Nelson W. Polsby, ed.,

> Annual Review of Political Science, vol. 4, PP.

> 345-369.

> A survey of the scope of the emerging subfield

> called " biopolitics, "

> reflecting the activities of the membership of the

> Association for Politics

> and the Life Sciences. Four areas are discussed in

> some detail:

> 1). genetics and health

> 2), toxins and behavior (including hyperactivity,

> depression, and violent

> crime)

> 3) the specific case of silicofluorides in water

> treatment and their effect

> in enhancing lead uptake

> 4) biopolitics and political theory.

> Note: one-time e-print available.

>

> Web-site:

> Overall site for Roger Masters' research:

> http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmasters/

> Address for research (with M. J. Coplan) on health

> and behavioral effects of

> silicofluorides:

> http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmasters/ahabs.htm

> Presentations to Scientific Conferences:

> Masters, RD and Coplan, M. J. " Silicofluoride Usage

> and Lead Uptake, "

> Presentation to XXIInd Conference of the

> International Society for Fluoride

> Research, Bellingham, Washington, August 24-27,

> 1998.

> Report on findings of elevated blood lead associated

> with communities using

> silicofluoride, based on sample of over 250,000

> children in Massachusetts

> (see Masters and Coplan, 1999a)

> Masters, RD and Coplan, M. J. " The Triune Brain, the

> Environment, and Human

> Behavior, " Presentation to Festschrift in Honor of

> Paul MacLean . Back Bay

> Hilton Hotel, Boston, Mass. - July 16, 1999 (see

> Masters and Coplan, 1999c).

> Masters, R. D. . " Poisoning the Well: Neurotoxic

> Metals, Water Treatment and

> Human Behavior, " Plenary address to Annual

> Conference of the Association for

> Politics and the Life Sciences, " Four Seasons Hotel,

> Atlanta, GA (September

> 2, 1999).

> Review of evidence linking heavy metal pollution

> with substance abuse and

> crime, including presentation of data linking ban on

> sales of leaded

> gasoline with decline in crime 16 years later.

> Summary of geographical data

> analyses contradicting the " null hypothesis " that

> there is no difference in

> the effects of sodium fluoride and the

> silicofluorides.

> Coplan, M. J., Masters, R. D., and Hone, B. (1999a)

> " Silicofluoride Usage,

> Tooth Decay and Children's Blood Lead, " Poster

> presentation to Conference on

> " Environmental Influences on Children: Brain,

> Development and Behavior, New

> York Academy of Medicine, Mt. Sinai Hospital, New

> York, May 24-25, 1999.

> Preliminary report on data from analysis of national

> sample of over 4,000

> children in NHANES III, showing that while water

> fluoridation is associated

> with a significant increase in children's blood lead

> (with especially strong

> effects among minority children), data on tooth

> decay from the same survey

> show limited benefits that are no longer evident

> among those aged 15-17.

> Coplan, M. J., Masters, RD, and Hone, B. (1999b)

> " Association of

> Silicofluoride Treated Water with Elevated Blood

> Lead, " Poster presentation

> to 17th International Nerotoxicology Conference,

> Little Rock, AR, October 17

> Preliminary report on data from analysis of sample

> of blood lead testing of

> over 150,000 children in New York State communities

> of 15,000 to 75,000

> population. Once again, average blood lead levels

> were significantly higher

> (p < .0001) in communities using silicofluorides in

> water treatment than in

> those with unfluoridated water.

> The effect was found independently in every age

> group for three ethnic

> subsamples.

>

>

>

> DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

> There are several take home points here.

> The first is that anything that can increase the

> level of lead in your blood

> should be avoided. This would include exposure to

> fluoridated water, which

> as Dr. Masters and Myron Coplan have shown, may

> increase lead uptake in

> children.

> Another important point is that a proper eating plan

> is very important in

> keeping blood lead levels in check. Your body will

> absorb more lead if it is

> not properly nourished. Following the eating plan is

> one of the best ways to

> ensure that this risk is minimized.

> Additionally, the article highlights the need to pay

> more attention to metal

> toxicity. Although there is some focus on lead, at

> least during early

> childhood, it is probably not enough. Also, very

> little attention paid to

> managanese toxicity by the medical establishment.

> Lastly, it shows that treatments such as chelation

> may be helpful in helping

> to address behavioral problems in some patients with

> elevated levels of

> toxic metals.

> It has been my experience that hair analysis is a

> better screen for metal

> toxicity than blood testing. However, this is not

> true for mercury as the

> hair will only show exposure during the last three

> months as mercury does

> not equilibrate readily in the blood like other

> heavy metals. Mercury firmly

> attaches to sulfur bonds in your body and is

> especially fond of your central

> nervous system.

>

>

>

> Related Articles:

> Metal Toxicity

> Mercury Amalgam Detoxification or Detox Protocol

> Mercury Toxicity and Systemic Elimination Agents