By Cristine Soto DeBerry

Last month, the Biden administration announced with little fanfare a $3 billion investment that will help fight crime: replacing lead pipes. Lead exposure doesn’t just impact an individual’s health and brain development; there is also significant evidence that it can increase the propensity for crime. With more than nine million homes, schools, and businesses still receiving their water through a lead pipe across the country – and up to 65,000 lead pipes still in use in California – that’s putting both the health of individuals and the long-term safety and well-being of communities at risk. 

It’s well known that lead exposure in children – even at low levels – can cause damage to the brain and learning and behavioral problems that have lasting effects into adulthood. It may sound far-fetched to suggest that such exposure could be responsible for meaningful community-wide increases in crime. Yet, that’s what a growing body of research shows. 

A 2019 study of children born between 1990 and 2004 found that preschoolers who had higher lead exposure were more likely to be suspended from school down the road and boys were more likely to be incarcerated as juveniles. The researchers found that children who lived closer to busy roads were more likely to have high blood lead levels, as the soil near those roads was still contaminated from leaded gasoline, despite being phased out decades prior.

But the evidence connecting lead exposure and crime doesn’t just come from recent decades. One study found that cities that installed lead pipes in the late 1800s showed a 24 percent increase in homicide rates between 1921 and 1936 compared to cities without lead pipes. The children exposed would have been in early adulthood during these years.   

Researchers argue about the precise amount of crime caused by lead, but there is little doubt that lead contributed to the rise and fall in crime in the late 20th century. 

While the evidence around lead exposure and crime continues to grow, the research on lead’s impact on cognitive development is far more robust. We know that lead exposure can lead to decreased academic performance and employment opportunities, which are factors that can contribute to criminal behavior.  

That’s why the President’s commitment to replace every lead pipe across the country within a decade is an investment in public health and crime reduction. 

It’s also an investment in reducing economic and racial disparities. Lower-income households and children of color are most at risk of lead exposure and the impacts may be worse. A 2020 study found that exposure to lead had a larger effect on brain development for kids living in poverty relative to their middle-class peers. 

While California will receive $29 million from the President’s announced funding to remove lead pipes, the state could get hundreds of millions more in federal dollars if it were collecting and reporting more complete information from utilities on potentially leaded materials in both public and private pipes. 

While replacing all lead pipes is long overdue in California and across the country, we shouldn’t stop there. Lead can also be found in paint in old buildings and in the soil, a concern at places where young children play like parks, childcare centers, and school playgrounds. That’s why places like Los Angeles have created public health programs to test young children for lead exposure and intervene quickly if needed. 

And while lead is particularly toxic for developing brains, it’s also not the only pollutant we should worry about. Studies have found that ambient air pollution increases crime, including violent crime. Pollution affects brain development and ongoing brain functioning by impacting oxygen levels and stress hormones, which can influence behavior, particularly for young people.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about the environmental factors that may influence crime. There are, unfortunately, many pollutants in our air and water, and which have the greatest impact on crime is understudied. 

But the bottom line is that cleaner air and cleaner water are good – for public health and public safety. We should applaud the leaders taking action to ensure every community has both. And when we talk about cleaning our environment and reducing exposure to pollution, we should no longer overlook the impact it can have on crime and the investments we can make now to improve the health and safety of future generations. 

Cristine Soto DeBerry is the executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance.