A recent study discovered that lead exposure poses a serious health threat to kids, potentially affecting their memory.
According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, lead exposure in women or during early childhood is likely to increase kids' risk of cognitive decline, significantly increasing the rate at which they forget information.
For the study, researchers analysed blood lead measurements from the mothers of 576 children in Mexico during the gestational period.
Later, the team received the samples of those kids at the age of 4-6.
Researchers further conducted a test on the kids aged between 6 and 8 years in US.
The test is known as the delayed matching-to-sample task (DMST) to measure the rate of forgetting.
In the test, kids had to remember a simple shape for up to 32 seconds after it had been briefly shown to them, and then choose it from three offered options.
Results indicated that the participants had increased median blood lead levels as compared to those typically found in US kids 6 to 10 years old; half of them were found to have higher Median, while half had lower Median levels.
“In the U.S., the reduction of environmental exposures to lead, such as lead-based paint in homes, lead pipes, and lead in foods such as spices, is still of continued importance as even low levels of lead can have detrimental effects on children’s cognitive function and development,” researchers stated.
The study further revealed that DMST tests can be useful in experimenting with the effect of other environmental dangers on kids’ memory.
