How NASCAR’s switch to unleaded gas boosted test scores near racetracks

Image of Robert L. Fischer, PhD

The HillRobert Fischer, associate professor at the Mandel School and co-director of the school’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, discussed a new study that found lead exposure from speedways hurt academic performance at area schools. “It’s a very clever natural experiment,” he said. “And to be able to tie it to children living nearby, and then thinking about kids’ exposure to these kinds of overwhelming amounts of lead in the air.”