The LRB Podcast Pollution and Other Serial Killers
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Nov 5, 2025 James Lasdun, a renowned novelist and poet, dives into the provocative connections between lead pollution and serial killers in America’s Pacific Northwest. He discusses Caroline Fraser's book, Murderland, highlighting how childhood exposure to lead can correlate with violent behaviors. The conversation explores the impact of industrial negligence, the decline of crime rates after emissions reductions, and even personal accounts from killers attributing their madness to environmental toxins. Lasdun also draws parallels with other harmful industries, offering a compelling look at societal neglect and its consequences.
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Lead Exposure As A Possible Catalyst
- Caroline Fraser links the Pacific Northwest spike in serial killers to heavy-metal pollution, especially lead exposure during childhood.
- The argument rests on geographic clustering, timing, and known neurobehavioral effects of lead, though it stops short of definitive causation.
Correlation Versus Causation Problem
- Fraser and Lasdun stress that correlation isn't causation and acknowledge universal exposure complicates a single-cause claim.
- They argue lead may have interacted with individual vulnerabilities to produce extreme outcomes in some people.
Pollution And Murder As Parallel Harms
- Fraser frames industrial pollution and serial murder as parallel violences produced by the same reckless society and profit motives.
- Lasdun argues this juxtaposition indicts systemic greed even if it doesn't absolve individual criminals.
