Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710.
Children's Environmental Health Initiative, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN 46556.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Aug 23;119(34):e2117868119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117868119. Epub 2022 Aug 15.
Racial/ethnic disparities in academic performance may result from a confluence of adverse exposures that arise from structural racism and accrue to specific subpopulations. This study investigates childhood lead exposure, racial residential segregation, and early educational outcomes. Geocoded North Carolina birth data is linked to blood lead surveillance data and fourth-grade standardized test scores (n = 25,699). We constructed a census tract-level measure of racial isolation (RI) of the non-Hispanic Black (NHB) population. We fit generalized additive models of reading and mathematics test scores regressed on individual-level blood lead level (BLL) and neighborhood RI of NHB (RINHB). Models included an interaction term between BLL and RINHB. BLL and RINHB were associated with lower reading scores; among NHB children, an interaction was observed between BLL and RINHB. Reading scores for NHB children with BLLs of 1 to 3 µg/dL were similar across the range of RINHB values. For NHB children with BLLs of 4 µg/dL, reading scores were similar to those of NHB children with BLLs of 1 to 3 µg/dL at lower RINHB values (less racial isolation/segregation). At higher RINHB levels (greater racial isolation/segregation), children with BLLs of 4 µg/dL had lower reading scores than children with BLLs of 1 to 3 µg/dL. This pattern becomes more marked at higher BLLs. Higher BLL was associated with lower mathematics test scores among NHB and non-Hispanic White (NHW) children, but there was no evidence of an interaction. In conclusion, NHB children with high BLLs residing in high RINHB neighborhoods had worse reading scores.
学业表现的种族/民族差异可能源于结构种族主义所导致的不利暴露的融合，并累积到特定的亚群。本研究调查了儿童期铅暴露、种族居住隔离和早期教育成果。将北卡罗来纳州的出生地理编码数据与血液铅监测数据和四年级标准化考试成绩（n=25699）相关联。我们构建了一个非西班牙裔黑人（NHB）人口的种族隔离（RI）的普查区水平衡量标准。我们拟合了阅读和数学考试成绩的广义加性模型，回归于个体水平的血液铅水平（BLL）和 NHB 的邻里 RI（RINHB）。模型包括 BLL 和 RINHB 之间的交互项。BLL 和 RINHB 与较低的阅读成绩相关；在 NHB 儿童中，观察到 BLL 和 RINHB 之间存在交互作用。BLL 为 1 至 3μg/dL 的 NHB 儿童的阅读成绩在 RINHB 值的整个范围内相似。对于 BLL 为 4μg/dL 的 NHB 儿童，阅读成绩与 BLL 为 1 至 3μg/dL 的 NHB 儿童相似，在 RINHB 值较低（种族隔离/隔离程度较低）时。在更高的 RINHB 水平（更大的种族隔离/隔离）下，BLL 为 4μg/dL 的儿童的阅读成绩低于 BLL 为 1 至 3μg/dL 的儿童。这种模式在更高的 BLL 下变得更加明显。较高的 BLL 与 NHB 和非西班牙裔白人（NHW）儿童的较低数学考试成绩相关，但没有交互作用的证据。总之，居住在高 RINHB 社区且 BLL 较高的 NHB 儿童的阅读成绩更差。
