TY - JOUR
T1 - Airborne Lead Exposure and Childhood Cognition
T2 - The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort (2003–2022)
AU - on Behalf of Program Collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes
AU - Gatzke-Kopp, Lisa M.
AU - Willoughby, Michael
AU - Kress, Amii M.
AU - McArthur, Kristen
AU - Wychgram, Cara
AU - Folch, David C.
AU - Brunswasser, Steve
AU - Dabelea, Dana
AU - Elliott, Amy J.
AU - Hartert, Tina
AU - Karagas, Margaret
AU - McEvoy, Cindy T.
AU - VanDerslice, James A.
AU - Wright, Robert O.
AU - Wright, Rosalind J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Public Health Association Inc.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - Objectives. To examine whether a previously reported association between airborne lead exposure and children’s cognitive function replicates across a geographically diverse sample of the United States. Methods. Residential addresses of children (< 5 years) were spatially joined to the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators model of relative airborne lead toxicity. Cognitive outcomes for children younger than 8 years were available for 1629 children with IQ data and 1476 with measures of executive function (EF; inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). We used generalized linear models using generalized estimating equations to examine the associations of lead, scaled by interquartile range (IQR), accounting for individual- and area-level confounders. Results. An IQR increase in airborne lead was associated with a 0.74-point lower mean IQ score (b 5 20.74; 95% confidence interval 5 21.00, 20.48). The association between lead and EF was nonlinear and was modeled with a knot at the 97.5th percentile of lead in our sample. Lead was significantly associated with lower mean inhibitory control but not with cognitive flexibility. This effect was stronger among males for both IQ and inhibitory control. Conclusions. Early-life exposure to airborne lead is associated with lower cognitive functioning.
AB - Objectives. To examine whether a previously reported association between airborne lead exposure and children’s cognitive function replicates across a geographically diverse sample of the United States. Methods. Residential addresses of children (< 5 years) were spatially joined to the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators model of relative airborne lead toxicity. Cognitive outcomes for children younger than 8 years were available for 1629 children with IQ data and 1476 with measures of executive function (EF; inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). We used generalized linear models using generalized estimating equations to examine the associations of lead, scaled by interquartile range (IQR), accounting for individual- and area-level confounders. Results. An IQR increase in airborne lead was associated with a 0.74-point lower mean IQ score (b 5 20.74; 95% confidence interval 5 21.00, 20.48). The association between lead and EF was nonlinear and was modeled with a knot at the 97.5th percentile of lead in our sample. Lead was significantly associated with lower mean inhibitory control but not with cognitive flexibility. This effect was stronger among males for both IQ and inhibitory control. Conclusions. Early-life exposure to airborne lead is associated with lower cognitive functioning.
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U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2023.307519
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2023.307519
M3 - Article
C2 - 38382019
AN - SCOPUS:85185624986
SN - 0090-0036
VL - 114
SP - 309
EP - 318
JO - American journal of public health
JF - American journal of public health
IS - 3
ER -