Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-27-2024

Identifier

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph22010016; PMCID: PMC11765214

Abstract

Pediatric lead poisoning remains a persistent public health problem. Children in the US spend the preponderance of their time at home; thus, housing is an important social determinant of health. Improving health outcomes derived from housing-based sources involves differentiating the risks posed by the existing housing stock. In this paper, we developed a parcel-level lead risk index (LRI) based on external housing conditions and the year of home construction. The purpose of this study was to introduce a housing-based lead risk index (LRI), developed using retrospective data, to estimate parcel-by-parcel variation in housing-based lead risk. We described how the LRI is constructed, relate it to the likelihood of a pediatric occupant's blood lead level (BLL) > 3.5 µg/dL using Lasso regression (n = 6589), visualized this relationship graphically, and mapped the outcome. We found that mapping the LRI provided more information at a more precise geographic level than was possible using other public health surveillance methods.

Journal Title

Int J Environ Res Public Health

Volume

22

Issue

1

MeSH Keywords

Humans; Housing; Lead; Lead Poisoning; Child; Retrospective Studies; Child, Preschool; Risk Assessment; United States; Environmental Exposure; Infant

PubMed ID

39857469

Keywords

childhood blood lead levels; environmental public health; housing; lead hazard risk; place-based approach; social determinates of health

Comments

Grants and funding

Fiscal Year 2020 Lead Technical Studies Grant Program (MOLTS0019-20)/United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Publisher's Link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/1/16

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