TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking source and effect
T2 - resuspended soil lead, air lead, and children's blood lead levels in Detroit, Michigan
AU - Zahran, Sammy
AU - Laidlaw, Mark A S
AU - McElmurry, Shawn P.
AU - Filippelli, Gabriel M.
AU - Taylor, Mark
PY - 2013/3/19
Y1 - 2013/3/19
N2 - This study evaluates atmospheric concentrations of soil and Pb aerosols, and blood lead levels (BLLs) in 367 839 children (ages 0-10) in Detroit, Michigan from 2001 to 2009 to test a hypothesized soil → air dust → child pathway of contemporary Pb risk. Atmospheric soil and Pb show near-identical seasonal properties that match seasonal variation in children's BLLs. Resuspended soil appears to be a significant underlying source of atmospheric Pb. A 1% increase in the amount of resuspended soil results in a 0.39% increase in the concentration of Pb in the atmosphere (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.50%). In turn, atmospheric Pb significantly explains age-dependent variation in child BLLs. Other things held equal, a change of 0.0069 μg/m3 in atmospheric Pb increases BLL of a child 1 year of age by 10%, while approximately 3 times the concentration of Pb in air (0.023 μg/m3) is required to induce the same increase in BLL of a child 7 years of age. Similarly, a 0.0069 μg/m3 change in air Pb increases the odds of a child <1 year of age having a BLL ≥ 5 μg/dL by a multiplicative factor of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.26 to 1.37). Overall, the resuspension of Pb contaminated soil explains observed seasonal variation in child BLLs.
AB - This study evaluates atmospheric concentrations of soil and Pb aerosols, and blood lead levels (BLLs) in 367 839 children (ages 0-10) in Detroit, Michigan from 2001 to 2009 to test a hypothesized soil → air dust → child pathway of contemporary Pb risk. Atmospheric soil and Pb show near-identical seasonal properties that match seasonal variation in children's BLLs. Resuspended soil appears to be a significant underlying source of atmospheric Pb. A 1% increase in the amount of resuspended soil results in a 0.39% increase in the concentration of Pb in the atmosphere (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.50%). In turn, atmospheric Pb significantly explains age-dependent variation in child BLLs. Other things held equal, a change of 0.0069 μg/m3 in atmospheric Pb increases BLL of a child 1 year of age by 10%, while approximately 3 times the concentration of Pb in air (0.023 μg/m3) is required to induce the same increase in BLL of a child 7 years of age. Similarly, a 0.0069 μg/m3 change in air Pb increases the odds of a child <1 year of age having a BLL ≥ 5 μg/dL by a multiplicative factor of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.26 to 1.37). Overall, the resuspension of Pb contaminated soil explains observed seasonal variation in child BLLs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875294384&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/es303854c
DO - 10.1021/es303854c
M3 - Article
C2 - 23428083
AN - SCOPUS:84875294384
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 47
SP - 2839
EP - 2845
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 6
ER -