Herbert Needleman

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 fivefold 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.

Education and faculty appointments
Needleman earned his BS from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and his MD from the University of Pennsylvaniain 1952. He trained in Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and served as Chief Resident, he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology and Rheumatic Fever through the National Institutes of Health. After Practicing family Pediatrics in Philadelphia and Neonatology at Pennsylvania Hospital, Dr. Needleman completed a residency 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.

Lead poisoning research
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.

Raising Children Toxic Free
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

Committee of Responsibility
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. 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.

Controversy
Needleman has faced intense criticism from the lead industry, and among scientists employed by industry. In 1980, the EPA held a hearing to vet his 1979 controversial paper in the New England Journal of Medicine. The EPA concluded that the paper's claims could not be supported, nor refuted. In a legal superfund case, Needleman was a consultant for the prosecution. The Defendants hired two scientists in the area, Ernhart and Scarr, to examine the data for the 1979 paper. Upon their review they promptly reported what they thought could be scientific misconduct to the NIH since the research was funded through the NIH. Professor Needleman was then investigated by the University of Pittsburgh, and the Office of Research Integrity. The University hearing board found Needleman guilty of deliberate misrepresentations in the 1979 paper and a 1990 paper as well. The University suggested a full investigation. In an unprecedented move, Needleman argued to have the hearings open to the public. Needleman was not found to have committed misconduct, but the investigative committee did find errors in the paper.

Recognition
For his research he has been honored with the following awards(among others):

The first scientific studies award of the academy of Association For Children With Learning Disabilities.

The Sarah Poiley Medal Of The New York Academy of Sciences.

The Charles Dana Award For Pioneering Achievement In Public Health.

The National Wildlife Federation Conservation Science Award.

The University Of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Award For Public Service.

The H. John Heinz Foundation Environmental Award.

The Physician's Forum Edward K. Barsky Award.

The Society For Occupational And Environmental Health Vernon Houk Award.

Muhlenberg College's Shankweiler Award.

The University Of Pennsylvania's Distinguished Graduate Award.

The Prince Mahidol Award Of Thailand.

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

Publications

 * 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