Duke Study: Lead Ingestion Leads To Poor Standardized Test Performance

The AP (5/19, Reitz) reports that according to a study of Connecticut students conducted by Duke University researchers, "children who ingested even small amounts of lead performed poorly later on school tests compared to students who were never exposed to the substance." The study "also found that black children were much more likely to have experienced lead poisoning from paint residue, dust or other sources by age 7 than the state's white children. Educators worry that factor might be among many contributing to Connecticut's status as the state with the largest achievement gap between the races." The Duke study observed the Connecticut Mastery Test results of some 35,000 children "whose blood tests showed lead exposure before age 7" and "concluded that the greater their exposure, the lower the children tended to score."