Investigating Locations Where Pre-1960s Housing is Not Associated with Higher Blood Lead Levels in Children: A Case Study in Michigan
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Recent research has shown that certain Pb exposure indices that utilize data on pre-1960s housing and current sociodemographic variables can be predictive of census tracts having the highest percentiles of children’s blood Pb levels (referred to as a “hotspot”). Ongoing work is exploring other potential environmental sources of Pb in these hotspots that are not associated with pre-1960s housing. In contrast, one can also investigate why some census tracts with high percentages of pre-1960s housing are not identified as Pb hotspots, which may provide insights into possible Pb-based paint outreach and education. Our research is focused on this latter approach. We are conducting exploratory geospatial and statistical analyses in Detroit, Michigan to understand what factors may be contributing to relatively lower childhood blood Pb levels (based on measurements from 2014-2016) in 178 census tracts that have higher percentages of pre-1960s housing. EPA’s EJ Screen Pb Paint EJ Index indicates these 178 census tracts as being in the 95th-100th percentile nationally for this index. Preliminary results generally demonstrate that these 178 census tracts are located in transition areas between neighborhoods of lower and higher socioeconomic status and contain greater percentages of owner-occupied housing than the census tracts with relatively higher percentages of blood of Pb levels. Further inquiry should provide additional information for this case study to better understand the relationship between housing age and exposure to Pb, with the ultimate goal of informing Pb reduction actions.