This study uses a new approach to assess the impact of different neighborhood characteristics on blood lead levels (BLLs) of black versus white children in metropolitan Detroit. Data were obtained from the Michigan Department of Community Health and the US Bureau of the Census American Community Survey. The Modified Darden-Kamel Composite Socioeconomic Index, bivariate regression, and the index of dissimilarity were used to compute neighborhood BLL unevenness by neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic characteristics and high racial residential segregation predicted higher average childhood BLLs. This reveals a social spatial structure that will aid researchers/policymakers in better understanding disparities in childhood BLLs.

Childhood lead poisoning in the United States remains a persistent, prevalent environmental public health problem, especially for children living in central-city neighborhoods. These neighborhoods typically are racially segregated, are in proximity to current and/or legacy lead emission sources, consist of older housing, and contain disproportionately African American or black children of low-income families. This research had two aims: (1) to determine whether average blood lead levels (BLLs) in children in the Detroit metropolitan area are related to the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods where they live and (2) to determine the estimated effect residential differences in the socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods have on average BLLs in non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white children. Data on pediatric BLLs were obtained from the Michigan Department of Community Health, and racial and socioeconomic data were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2006–2010). The modified Darden-Kamel Composite Socioeconomic Index, multiple regression, and difference-of-means tests were used to determine the effect residential socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods have on average BLLs. Black segregated neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic characteristics were predictors of higher average BLLs in the children who lived there. When black and white children resided in neighborhoods of similar socioeconomic characteristics, the black-white gap in BLLs lessened. Significantly, after stratifying black and white children by age, living in the same neighborhoods of the lowest socioeconomic characteristics negated the black-white racial gap in BLLs entirely, but increasing levels of socioeconomic characteristics exacerbated the divide.

Objective: The purpose of this research is to geographically model airborne lead emission concentrations and total lead deposition in the Detroit Metropolitan Area (DMA) from 2006 to 2013. Further, this study characterizes the racial and socioeconomic composition of recipient neighborhoods and estimates the potential for IQ (Intelligence Quotient) loss of children residing there. Methods: Lead emissions were modeled from emitting facilities in the DMA using AERMOD (American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model). Multilevel modeling was used to estimate local racial residential segregation, controlling for poverty. Global Moran’s I bivariate spatial autocorrelation statistics were used to assess modeled emissions with increasing segregation. Results: Lead emitting facilities were primarily located in, and moving to, highly black segregated neighborhoods regardless of poverty levels—a phenomenon known as environmental injustice. The findings from this research showed three years of elevated airborne emission concentrations in these neighborhoods to equate to a predicted 1.0 to 3.0 reduction in IQ points for children living there. Across the DMA there are many areas where annual lead deposition was substantially higher than recommended for aquatic (rivers, lakes, etc.) and terrestrial (forests, dunes, etc.) ecosystems. These lead levels result in decreased reproductive and growth rates in plants and animals, and neurological deficits in vertebrates. Conclusions: This lead-hazard and neighborhood context assessment will inform future childhood lead exposure studies and potential health consequences in the DMA.

The present water shutoff crisis in Detroit, which has deepened with the spread of COVID-19, exists within an historical context of decades-old government-sanctioned racial residential segregation policies that continue today. This includes the decrease in black homeownership and wealth, integration, and democratically elected governance. Information collected by local grassroots organizations, Detroit newspaper reports, and academic research, specific to the metropolitan area, reveal the interrelationships among banking/housing industries, water access, and government policies. The result has been diversions of taxpayer money away from affordable housing, home loans, and public services (i.e., water). Instead, public resources are distributed to support those in powerful political and economic positions. Although water has not been formally privatized, we argue that a system of commodification exists, which taxes/fines the impoverished black population of the City of Detroit, but provides free and/or reduced water rates to the elites and largely white suburban population. The immediate actions required are reconnecting household water, providing affordable housing, redirecting taxpayer funds to the benefit of the public good, and government transparency and accountability. Collaborative networks of local environmental organizations, including mostly black participants, are leading the public opposition to these policies and directly link water shutoffs to public health. We suggest that future research efforts focus on work that increases the public awareness of the systemic linkages among water shutoffs, public health, racist social structures, housing patterns, and government policies. Continued active democratic participation of community residents must be a priority in future research and organizing activities.

This research investigates the relationships between airborne and depositional industrial lead emission concentrations modeled using Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) American Meteorological Society/Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model (AERMOD) and childhood blood lead levels (BLL) in the Detroit Metropolitan Area (DMA) 2006–2013. Linear and mediation interaction regression models estimated the effects of older housing and airborne and depositional lead emission concentrations on black and white childhood BLLs, controlling for neighborhood levels of racial isolation and poverty—important social structures in the DMA. The results showed a direct relationship between airborne and depositional lead emissions and higher childhood BLL, after controlling for median housing age. Lead emissions also exacerbated the effect of older housing on black and white children’s BLLs (indirect relationship), after controlling for social structures. Findings from this research indicate that black and white children exposed to lead-based paint/pipes in older housing are further impacted by industrial lead pollution that may lead to permanent neurological damage.