Identification of high lead exposure locations in Ohio at the census tract scale using a generalizable geospatial hotspot approach

Lead is a persistent, ubiquitous pollutant whose historical sources have been largely addressed through regulation and voluntary actions. The United States (U.S.) has achieved significant decreases in children’s blood lead levels (BLL) over the past 40 years; however, there is no known safe level of Pb exposure. Some communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by exposure to Pb, including Black children and families living in older homes.

Impact/Purpose

The purpose of this manuscript is to apply a geospatial statistical approach for identifying census tracts in Ohio where there may be a greater risk of exposure to Pb based on measured children's blood Pb data. This approach was originally developed and applied for Michigan and we are using it in another state to evaluate it's validity. Furthermore, the results are compared with existing Pb indices/models to assess whether the census tracts identified with the indices/models are consistent with the blood Pb measurements. Consistency was observed across different blood Pb reference values, with the main hotspots identified at 3.5 µg/dL, also identified at 5 and 10 µg/dL. Substantial gains in public health were demonstrated for each period, with the biggest decreases observed between 2008-2010 to 2011-2013. Across OH, 355 census tracts (of 2850) were identified as hotspots across 17 locations, with the majority in the most populated cites. Generally, these EBLL hotspots were also identified by existing Pb indices; a smaller number of hotspots detected were not associated with old housing and sociodemographics. Environmental justice variables of race, income, and education level were all strong predictors of hotspots.   ·  

Citation

Stanek, L., J. Xue, V. Zartarian Morrison, A. Poulakos, R. Tornero-Velez, E. Snyder, Christopher Walts, AND K. Triantafillou. Identification of high lead exposure locations in Ohio at the census tract scale using a generalizable geospatial hotspot approach. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 34:718-726, (2024). [DOI: 10.1038/s41370-024-00666-x]

DOI: Identification of high lead exposure locations in Ohio at the census tract scale using a generalizable geospatial hotspot approach