Does short-term, airborne lead exposure during pregnancy affect birth outcomes? Quasi-experimental evidence from NASCAR’s deleading policy

Bui, Linda; Shadbegian, Ron; Márquez, Alicia María López; Klemick, Heather; Guignet, Dennis

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107354

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Importantly, the cars racing the oval at SJS were fueled with lead-formulated gasoline. In a clever natural experiment exploiting the switch from leaded to unleaded gasoline in NASCAR and ARCA racing series in 2007, Hollingsworth and Rudik (2019) ( 18 ) found that “(i) ambient airborne lead concentrations increase immediately after a NASCAR race, (ii) counties with leaded NASCAR races have higher rates of child lead poisoning.” Additionally, Bui et al (2022) ( 19 ) found that maternal exposure to airborne lead emissions from NASCAR races produced significant adverse pregnancy outcomes. Perhaps, these acute NASCAR effects have a lasting legacy, with the lead emitted from racing events depositing in the soils of neighborhoods of where children now reside.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaded aviation gasoline exposure risk and child blood lead levels

2023

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Lead-formulated aviation gasoline (avgas) is the primary source of lead emissions in the United States today, consumed by over 170,000 piston-engine aircraft (PEA). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that four million people reside within 500m of a PEA-servicing airport. The disposition of avgas around such airports may be an independent source of child lead exposure. We analyze over 14,000 blood lead samples of children (≤5 y of age) residing near one such airport—Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) in Santa Clara County, California. Across an ensemble of tests, we find that the blood lead levels (BLLs) of sampled children increase in proximity to RHV, are higher among children east and predominantly downwind of the airport, and increase with the volume of PEA traffic and quantities of avgas sold at the airport. The BLLs of airport-proximate children are especially responsive to an increase in PEA traffic, increasing by about 0.72 μg/dL under periods of maximum PEA traffic. We also observe a significant reduction in child BLLs from a series of pandemic-related interventions in Santa Clara County that contracted PEA traffic at the airport. Finally, we find that children’s BLLs increase with measured concentrations of atmospheric lead at the airport. In support of the scientific adjudication of the EPAs recently announced endangerment finding, this in-depth case study indicates that the deposition of avgas significantly elevates the BLLs of at-risk children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaded aviation gasoline exposure risk and child blood lead levels

2023

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“…We found that lead exposure had the highest DALY-PAFs in children aged 0–6 years, and that this group was more likely to develop MD, which is consistent with a previous study [ 36 ] and may be related to the fact that lead reduces thyroid hormone levels by lowering NIS and TSHr protein [ 37 ] and epidemiological studies have also shown that thyroid hormone deficiency affects cognitive development in children [ 38 ]. Additionally, a pregnant woman’s exposure to lead puts her developing fetus at risk of neurodevelopmental defects because lead can cross the placental barrier [ 39 ]. Moreover, children are more likely to ingest lead because of frequent hand to mouth contact [ 40 ], and they absorb 4–5 times as much ingested lead as adults from a given source [ 1 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of global burden of 13 diseases attributable to lead exposure, 1990–2019

Lin

Cao

et al. 2023

BMC Public Health

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Objectives Understanding the spatio-temporal patterns of the global burden of various diseases resulting from lead exposure is critical for controlling lead pollution and disease prevention. Methods Based on the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) framework and methodology, the global, regional, and national burden of 13 level-three diseases attributable to lead exposure were analyzed by disease type, patient age and sex, and year of occurrence. Population attributable fraction (PAF), deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) obtained from the GBD 2019 database were used as descriptive indicators, and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) was estimated by a log-linear regression model to reflect the time trend. Results and conclusions From 1990 to 2019, the number of deaths and DALYs resulting from lead exposure increased by 70.19% and 35.26%, respectively; however, the ASMR and ASDR decreased by 20.66% and 29.23%, respectively. Ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, and hypertensive heart disease (HHD) showed the highest increases in deaths; IHD, stroke, and diabetes and kidney disease (DKD) had the fastest-growing DALYs. The fastest decline in ASMR and ASDR was seen in stroke, with AAPCs of -1.25 (95% CI [95% confidence interval]: -1.36, -1.14) and -1.66 (95% CI: -1.76, -1.57), respectively. High PAFs occurred mainly in South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Age-specific PAFs of DKD resulting from lead exposure were positively correlated with age, whereas the opposite was true for mental disorders (MD), with the burden of lead-induced MD concentrated in children aged 0–6 years. The AAPCs of ASMR and ASDR showed a strong negative correlation with the socio-demographic index. Our findings showed that the global impact of lead exposure and its burden increased from 1990 to 2019 and varied significantly according to age, sex, region, and resulting disease. Effective public health measures and policies should be adopted to prevent and control lead exposure.

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“…They find that pregnant mothers in affected neighborhoods are 1.5 percentage-point more likely to give birth to low birth weight infants, an increase of 18 percent relative to the mean. Bui et al (2022) explore the effects of de-leading racing cars' fuel on air quality and birth outcomes. They compare mothers' outcomes who live in the vicinity of the racetrack to those residing farther away and find that de-leading racing fuel is associated with about 100 grams additional birth weight.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, there are about 1 million deaths in the world annually due to lead exposure, roughly half of the total deaths due to known hazardous chemicals (World Health Organization, 2022). Studies suggest that prenatal exposure to lead is associated with higher risks of pregnancy complications (Bellinger, 2005), increases in fetal death (Roy & Edwards, 2021), higher infant mortality rates (Troesken, 2008), and adverse birth outcomes (Bui et al, 2022;Dave & Yang, 2022). In the long-run, prenatal and childhood exposure to lead is associated with behavioral problems (Reyes, 2015), cognitive development (Coscia et al, 2003;Dietrich et al, 1991;Schnaas et al, 2006), IQ (Nevin, 2000), 3 elevated blood pressure (Farzan et al, 2018), kidney functioning (Skröder et al, 2016), crime (Feigenbaum & Muller, 2016;Reyes, 2007), educational outcomes (Miranda et al, 2007;Sorensen et al, 2019), and old-age Alzheimer's disease (Eid et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxified to the Bone: Early-Life and Childhood Exposure to Lead and Men’s Old-Age Mortality

Fletcher,

Noghanibehambari

2023

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Several strands of research document the life-cycle impacts of lead exposure during the critical period of children's development. Yet little is known about long-run effects of lead exposure during early-life on old-age mortality outcomes. This study exploits the staggered installation of water systems across 761 cities in the US over the first decades of the 20th century combined with cross-city differences in materials used in water pipelines to identify lead and non-lead cities. An event-study analysis suggests that the impacts are more concentrated on children exposed during in-utero up to age 10. The results of difference-in-difference analysis suggests an intent-to-treat effect of 2.7 months reduction in old-age longevity for fully exposed cohorts. A heterogeneity analysis reveals effects that are 3.5 and 2 times larger among the nonwhite subpopulation and low socioeconomic status families, respectively. We also find reductions in education and socioeconomic standing during early adulthood as candidate mechanism. Finally, we employ WWII enlistment data and observe reductions in height-for-age among lead-exposed cohorts.

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Does short-term, airborne lead exposure during pregnancy affect birth outcomes? Quasi-experimental evidence from NASCAR’s deleading policy

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

Leaded aviation gasoline exposure risk and child blood lead levels

Leaded aviation gasoline exposure risk and child blood lead levels

Patterns of global burden of 13 diseases attributable to lead exposure, 1990–2019

Toxified to the Bone: Early-Life and Childhood Exposure to Lead and Men’s Old-Age Mortality

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