No harm to humans: where have we heard this before?

I just watched “The Clean Room” in “Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey” with Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Clair Patterson, a graduate student then a professor, spent years trying to determine the age of the earth by the amount of lead, a product of uranium decay.  He kept running into far more lead in the environment than should occur naturally.  He concluded that the lead was coming from tetra-ethyl lead added to gasoline to improve anti-knock qualities.

However, lead is a known neuro-toxin, known even in Roman times.  Chemical industry representatives kept trying to show that leaded gasoline was not a problem.

We still have many people having neuro-toxin problems from leaded paint in older buildings.  But we try to show that their problems are caused by lack of initiative rather than environment.

Now we have the same scenario all over again with vested interests working overtime to “prove” that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not a problem.

When will we ever learn?  Those who live by profit are not to be trusted: Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations.

Lead and "failing" schools

Public school critics blame "failing" schools on the teachers, but consider what the teachers may have to work with, especially with large classes.  Not only are there the cultural issues of not being interested in school, peer pressure not to perform, and homes where books are few or non-existent, but there is also the problem of too much lead in the environment.

"Too much lead can harm developing brains and can mean a lower IQ."

"Lower levels can reduce intelligence, impair hearing and behavior and cause other problems." "Lower levels" meaning lower than those leading to "coma, convulsions, and death".

And higher concentrations of lead are found in older or dilapidated houses.  And there are higher concentrations of older or dilapidated houses around "failing" schools.

See "More than half a million young children have lead poisoning under revised standard", Associated Press, 2013-04-04, published in the Washington Post and others.

If CEOs get incentive pay to turn a company around, why not give teachers incentive pay to turn schools around?