186122 Geographic Distribution of the Burden of Lead Poisoning in Rhode Island: Using Spatial Analysis to Identify High Risk Areas

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 3:20 PM

Marissa Hauptman, MPH , NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY
Scott Bell, PhD , Population Studies & Training Center; Spatial Structures in Social Sciences Initiative, Brown University, Providence, RI
Sherry H. Weitzen, PhD , Community Health, Brown University, Providence, RI
Robert Vanderslice, PhD , Office of Environmental Health Risk Assessment, Rhode Island Department of Health, Providence, RI
John R. Logan, PhD , Department of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI
Patrick M. Vivier, MD, PhD , Community Health/MPH Program, Brown University, Providence, RI
Introduction:

The negative health consequences of lead poisoning for young children have been well documented. In this study we use GIS to examine the geographic distribution of lead poisoning and associated risk factors in Rhode Island, a state with a particularly high lead burden. The goal is to better understand the distribution of the lead problem in this state and to identify high risk areas most in need of interventions.

Methods:

We conducted an exploratory spatial data analysis to assess the extent of lead poisoning clustering and to examine the geographic distribution of lead poisoning rates throughout the State of Rhode Island. Additionally, we examined the geographic distribution of important lead poisoning risk factors.

Results:

There is substantial variation in the proportion of children who were lead poisoned in each block group, ranging from 0.00% to 48.60%. There is geographic clustering of block groups with 90% of block groups in the highest quintile of lead poisoning being located in five municipalities. Quintile maps of poverty and pre-1950 housing units showed similar geographic clustering as lead poisoning.

Conclusions:

GIS analysis identified specific geographic areas with substantial lead burdens in Rhode Island. For states that do not have the benefit of readily accessible statewide lead screening data, mapping census data of lead poisoning risk factors is another potential technique for identifying high risk areas for targeting primary prevention efforts.

Learning Objectives:
GIS analysis of lead screening data provides useful information to states planning primary prevention programs to address lead poisoning. We found in Rhode Island that mapping census data for proportion of families living below the poverty threshold and proportion of housing units built before 1950, identified similar block group clusters as was found in mapping lead screening data. Such census data is readily available for all states and based on the Rhode Island experience should help identify high risk areas for targeting prevention programs or at the least identifying candidate areas that merit further investigation of the lead burden.

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Over the past two and half years, I have been conducting childhood lead poisoning research in the State of Rhode Island. In May of 2007, I graduated from Brown University with a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Environmental and Social Epidemiology. Upon being admitted to the MPH program, I was awarded a research assistantship conducting childhood lead poisoning research in the State of Rhode Island. Additionally I served as a Commissioner on the Rhode Island Attorney General's Advisory Commission on Lead Paint. For my thesis research, I was awarded Best Graduate Research Project at Brown Medical School's Public Health Research and Data Poster Session as well as the 2007 Healthy Housing Award from the Rhode Island Department of Health. Lastly, for the past two years, I have served as one of Brown University Program in Public Health student representatives at the American Public Health Association's (APHA) Annual Conference.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Lead exposure in children: vulnerable populations
See more of: Environment