Geospatial Analysis to Assess Linkage between Commercial Sources of Lead (Pb) and Childhood Blood Pb Levels
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Lead (Pb) exposures in the US have declined significantly due to phaseout of Pb in gasoline, residential paint, and plumbing. However, Pb is still in use in some industries. We sought to identify commercial sources of Pb in the US and conduct geospatial analyses to identify associations between industrial sources and children’s blood Pb level (BLL) exceedance (≥5 µg/dL) by census tract in the state of Michigan in 2018.
Peer-reviewed literature was used to identify relevant industrial sources of Pb. Pb-emitting industry sites in Michigan were geolocated by SIC code using Dun & Bradstreet, Federal Aviation Agency, and Mine Safety and Health Administration data. Aggregated children’s BLL exceedance rates for each census tract were ranked within the state of Michigan. The top 20% of census tracts with the highest children’s BLL exceedance were selected for geospatial analyses among Pb-site locations. Data extracted from the Toxic Release Inventory, CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, and US Census were linked by census tract. Geospatial analyses were performed using R and ArcGIS.
Unique SIC codes (n = 31) were identified and, in 2018, 11 were found in Michigan. This includes, but not limited to, shooting ranges, ship building facilities, and general aviation. We plan to investigate the top 20% of Michigan census tracts (n = 482) to determine whether there are associations.