Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.
Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 22;19(1):86. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010086.
In San Francisco (SF), many environmental factors drive the unequal burden of preterm birth outcomes for communities of color. Here, we examine the association between human exposure to lead (Pb) and preterm birth (PTB) in 19 racially diverse SF zip codes. Pb concentrations were measured in 109 hair samples donated by 72 salons and barbershops in 2018-2019. Multi-method data collection included randomly selecting hair salons stratified by zip code, administering demographic surveys, and measuring Pb in hair samples as a biomarker of environmental exposure to heavy metals. Concentrations of Pb were measured by atomic emission spectrometry. Aggregate neighborhood Pb levels were linked to PTB and demographic data using STATA 16 SE (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX, USA). Pb varied by zip code ( < 0.001) and correlated with PTB ( < 0.01). Increases in unadjusted Pb concentration predicted an increase in PTB (β = 0.003; < 0.001) and after adjusting for poverty (β = 0.002; < 0.001). Confidence intervals contained the null after further adjustment for African American/Black population density ( = 0.16), suggesting that race is more indicative of high rates of PTB than poverty. In conclusion, Pb was found in every hair sample collected from SF neighborhoods. The highest concentrations were found in predominately African American/Black and high poverty neighborhoods, necessitating public health guidelines to eliminate this environmental injustice.
在旧金山（SF），许多环境因素导致有色人种社区面临不平等的早产后果负担。在这里，我们研究了人类暴露于铅（Pb）与 19 个种族多样化的 SF 邮政编码早产之间的关联。在 2018 年至 2019 年间，从 72 家发廊和理发店收集了 109 份头发样本，对其中的 Pb 浓度进行了测量。多方法数据收集包括按邮政编码分层随机选择发廊，进行人口统计调查，并测量头发样本中的 Pb 作为重金属环境暴露的生物标志物。通过原子发射光谱法测量 Pb 浓度。使用 STATA 16 SE（StataCorp LLC，College Station，TX，USA）将聚集的邻里 Pb 水平与 PTB 和人口统计数据联系起来。邮政编码之间的 Pb 浓度存在差异（<0.001），并且与 PTB 相关（<0.01）。未经调整的 Pb 浓度增加预示着 PTB 增加（β=0.003；<0.001），在调整贫困因素后（β=0.002；<0.001）也是如此。进一步调整非裔美国人/黑人人口密度（=0.16）后，置信区间包含了无效值，这表明种族比贫困更能说明早产率高。总之，在 SF 社区采集的每一份头发样本中都发现了 Pb。浓度最高的样本来自以非裔美国人/黑人为主和高贫困的社区，这需要公共卫生指南来消除这种环境不公正。
