Redbook
I am a contributing editor at Scientific American and write the Brain Waves blog for Psychology Today (you can find those posts here). My work has also appeared in The Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, Vogue and many other publications. Earlier in my career, I was on staff at Newsweek, and People, among other places and I’ve included a few of my old favorites from those days.
The Poison that Hid In Our Home
If you think lead poisoning is just an inner-city-kid problem, think again. Tens of thousands of children nationwide are exposed to dangerous levels of the toxin every year in drinking water, at school, and yes, even in their homes.
When Susan Thornfeldt and husband Greg Dasch moved into their clapboard colonial house, in an old section of Portland, Maine, it was, like most of its neighbors, pretty but run-down. The kitchen of the 180-year-old house was outdated, the wiring ancient, the paint peeling inside and out—but Susan and Greg…