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      Exploring Childhood Lead Exposure through GIS: A Review of the Recent Literature

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          Abstract

          Childhood exposure to lead remains a critical health control problem in the US. Integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into childhood lead exposure studies significantly enhanced identifying lead hazards in the environment and determining at risk children. Research indicates that the toxic threshold for lead exposure was updated three times in the last four decades: 60 to 30 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) in 1975, 25 µg/dL in 1985, and 10 µb/dL in 1991. These changes revealed the extent of lead poisoning. By 2012 it was evident that no safe blood lead threshold for the adverse effects of lead on children had been identified and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) currently uses a reference value of 5 µg/dL. Review of the recent literature on GIS-based studies suggests that numerous environmental risk factors might be critical for lead exposure. New GIS-based studies are used in surveillance data management, risk analysis, lead exposure visualization, and community intervention strategies where geographically-targeted, specific intervention measures are taken.

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          Most cited references72

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          Lead Exposure and Cardiovascular Disease—A Systematic Review

          Objective This systematic review evaluates the evidence on the association between lead exposure and cardiovascular end points in human populations. Methods We reviewed all observational studies from database searches and citations regarding lead and cardiovascular end points. Results A positive association of lead exposure with blood pressure has been identified in numerous studies in different settings, including prospective studies and in relatively homogeneous socioeconomic status groups. Several studies have identified a dose–response relationship. Although the magnitude of this association is modest, it may be underestimated by measurement error. The hypertensive effects of lead have been confirmed in experimental models. Beyond hypertension, studies in general populations have identified a positive association of lead exposure with clinical cardiovascular outcomes (cardiovascular, coronary heart disease, and stroke mortality; and peripheral arterial disease), but the number of studies is small. In some studies these associations were observed at blood lead levels < 5 μg/dL. Conclusions We conclude that the evidence is sufficient to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with hypertension. We conclude that the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with clinical cardiovascular outcomes. There is also suggestive but insufficient evidence to infer a causal relationship of lead exposure with heart rate variability. Public Health Implications These findings have immediate public health implications. Current occupational safety standards for blood lead must be lowered and a criterion for screening elevated lead exposure needs to be established in adults. Risk assessment and economic analyses of lead exposure impact must include the cardiovascular effects of lead. Finally, regulatory and public health interventions must be developed and implemented to further prevent and reduce lead exposure.
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            Choosing area based socioeconomic measures to monitor social inequalities in low birth weight and childhood lead poisoning: The Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project (US).

            : To determine which area based socioeconomic measures can meaningfully be used, at which level of geography, to monitor socioeconomic inequalities in childhood health in the US. Cross sectional analysis of birth certificate and childhood lead poisoning registry data, geocoded and linked to diverse area based socioeconomic measures that were generated at three geographical levels: census tract, block group, and ZIP code. Two US states: Massachusetts (1990 population=6,016,425) and Rhode Island (1990 population=1,003,464). All births born to mothers ages 15 to 55 years old who were residents of either Massachusetts (1989-1991; n=267,311) or Rhode Island (1987-1993; n=96 138), and all children ages 1 to 5 years residing in Rhode Island who were screened for lead levels between 1994 and 1996 (n=62,514 children, restricted to first test during the study period). Analyses of both the birth weight and lead data indicated that: (a) block group and tract socioeconomic measures performed similarly within and across both states, while ZIP code level measures tended to detect smaller effects; (b) measures pertaining to economic poverty detected stronger gradients than measures of education, occupation, and wealth; (c) results were similar for categories generated by quintiles and by a priori categorical cut off points; and (d) the area based socioeconomic measures yielded estimates of effect equal to or augmenting those detected, respectively, by individual level educational data for birth outcomes and by the area based housing measure recommended by the US government for monitoring childhood lead poisoning. Census tract or block group area based socioeconomic measures of economic deprivation could be meaningfully used in conjunction with US public health surveillance systems to enable or enhance monitoring of social inequalities in health in the United States.
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              Resuspension of urban soils as a persistent source of lead poisoning in children: A review and new directions

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                ijerph
                International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
                MDPI
                1661-7827
                1660-4601
                18 June 2014
                June 2014
                : 11
                : 6
                : 6314-6334
                Affiliations
                Department of Earth Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA; E-Mail: eozdenrl@ 123456memphis.edu
                Author notes
                [* ]Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: cakkus@ 123456memphis.edu ; Tel.: +1-901-678-2787; Fax: +1-901-678-2178.
                Article
                ijerph-11-06314
                10.3390/ijerph110606314
                4078581
                24945189
                8c35ba32-086a-41e2-8f8a-f5384fa3ecf1
                © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

                History
                : 08 March 2014
                : 22 May 2014
                : 06 June 2014
                Categories
                Review

                Public health
                childhood lead poisoning,geographic distribution,screening efforts,risk modeling,gis
                Public health
                childhood lead poisoning, geographic distribution, screening efforts, risk modeling, gis

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