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Herbert Needleman, MD, known for research studies on the neurodevelopmental damages caused by lead poisoning, is a pediatrician, child psychiatrist, researcher and professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, and the founder of the Alliance to End Childhood Lead Poisoning (now known as the Alliance for Healthy Homes). Dr. Needleman played a key role in securing some of the most significant environmental health protections achieved during the 20th century, which resulted in a five-fold reduction in the prevalence of lead poisoning among children in the United States by the early 1990s. Despite engendering strong resistance from related industries, which made him the target of frequent attacks, Needleman persisted in campaigning to educate stakeholders, including parents and government panels, about the dangers of lead poisoning. Needleman has been credited with having played the key role in triggering environmental safety measures that have reduced average blood lead levels by an estimated 78 percent between 1976 and 1991.

Contents 1 Education and faculty appointments 2 Lead poisoning research 3 Raising Children Toxic Free 4 Committee of Responsibility 5 Controversy 6 Recognition 7 Publications 8 Reference 9 External links

Needleman earned his BS from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania, and trained in psychiatry at Temple University Health Sciences Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1971 to 1980, he was an assistant professor of psychiatry at Temple University and at Harvard University Medical School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1980 to 1981, Since 1981, he has been a professor of child psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

In the 1970s, Needleman conducted a study at Harvard Medical School that yielded strong evidence that lead, even at very low levels, can affect a child's IQ. By measuring levels of lead in children’s teeth, Needleman provided the first evidence that low level lead exposure not only reduces IQs, but also shortens attention spans and delays acquisition of language proficiency. In studies that followed, he determined that lead poisoning had long term implications for a child's attentiveness, behavior, and academic success.

In 1979, Needleman began the first large scale study of intelligence and behavior in children with no outward signs of lead poisoning. His research showed that lead exposure is associated with increased risk for failure to graduate from high school and for reading disabilities. His research involved testing the concentration of lead in bones of 194 juveniles, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, who had been convicted in the Allegheny County Juvenile Court, and 146 students in regular high schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who did not have behavioral problems. In 1996, findings from the research, reporting on the physical and behavioral problems caused by leaded gasoline and lead paint while linking lead exposure to anti-social behavior, were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found delinquent children were four times more likely to have elevated concentrations of lead in their bones. According to Needleman, "Lead is a brain poison that interferes with the ability to restrain impulses. It's a life experience which gets into biology and increases a child's risk for doing bad things."

After extensive scientific review, Needleman's findings were instrumental in convincing the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to issue guidelines for the diagnosis and management of lead poisoning in children, in goading the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mandate the removal of lead from gasoline and inducing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban lead from interior paints. Needleman's research also helped cause the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to remove lead from thousands of housing units across the US.

Needleman designed the first forward study of lead exposure during gestation, and showed that such exposure is associated with cognitive deficits later in life. His most recent research has shown that boys with high levels of lead concentrated in their bones are more likely to develop aggressive or delinquent behavior, such as bullying, vandalism and shoplifting.

In their book, Raising Children Toxic Free: How to Keep Your Child Safe from Lead, Asbestos, Pesticides, and Other Environmental Hazards (1996), Needleman and Philip Landrigan offer advice for parents and physicians on how to evaluate and minimize toxic exposure risks, which include lead, asbestos, pesticides, and other toxins. They also address practical means for ensuring community compliance with existing laws

While an associate professor at Temple University's School of Medicine, Needleman was the chairman of the Committee of Responsibility (COR), throughout its existence between 1966 and 1974.[1] COR, which sought to help civilians injured in the Vietnam War, was comprised of medical personnel, scientists, clergymen, and citizens concerned about American involvement. In its efforts to assist injured Vietnamese children shelters were set up in Berkeley, California and Boston, Massachusetts, both called Vietnam House, and another in Saigon, where paraplegic children could be cared for and rehabilitated in their own country.

Needleman has faced intense criticism from the lead industry. He was also forced to defend himself against charges of scientific fraud and misconduct. He was eventually exonerated, but not until after having to fight for the right to an open hearing with legal representation, a right that has benefited others accused of such charges and the scientific community at large. Needleman continues to be vilified by the lead industry and corporate media personalities.

Needleman is among a number of academicians and scientists who have called for more complete disclosure policies for medical publications, in order to allow scientists, the public, and policy makers to make more informed judgments.[2]

For his contributions to the understanding and prevention of childhood lead poisoning, in 1995 Needleman received the Heinz Award.

• 1994, Herbert L. Needleman, Philip J. Landrigan, Raising Children Toxic Free: How to Keep Your Child Safe from Lead, Asbestos, Pesticides, and Other Environmental Hazards, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Gordonsville, Virginia, ISBN 0-374-24643-2
• 1994, Herbert L. Needleman, David C. Bellinger, Prenatal Exposure to Toxicants: Developmental Consequences, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
• 1991, Herbert L. Needleman (editor), Human Lead Exposure CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, ISBN 0-8493-6034-X
• 1980, Herbert L. Needleman, Low level lead exposure: The clinical implications of current research, ISBN 0-89004-455-4
• Childhood lead poisoning: The promise and abandonment of primary prevention

• Rampton, S., Stauber, J., Trust Us, We're Experts! 2001, p 95-7
• Needleman H. "Standing up to the lead industry: an interview with Herbert Needleman. Interview by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz." Public Health Rep. 2005 May-Jun;120(3):330-7. PMID: 16134577 PDF

• Brown.edu - 'Legacy of Lead Poisoning Detailed at Annual Barnes Lecture', Brown University (April 21, 2006)
• FindArticles.com - 'The difficult quest of Herbert Needleman', Thomas A. Lewis, National Wildlife (April-May, 1995)
• FoxNews.com - 'Integrity in Science Award Is Neither', Steven Milloy, Fox News (July 11, 2003)
• HealthCentral.com - 'Take a Bite Out of Crime: Get the Lead Out: Study finds juvenile delinquents have more of the heavy metal in their bones', Jennifer Thomas, HealthDayNews (January 6, 2003)
• HeinzAwards.net - 'Herbert Needleman: 2nd Annual Heinz Award Recipient: Dr. Herbert Needleman receives the Heinz Award in the Environment for his extraordinary contributions to the understanding and prevention of childhood lead poisoning' (1995)