The EPA Lead Strategy and the Federal Lead Action Plan highlight the need for a whole-of-government approach to map, identify, and address high lead exposure locations and disparities. EPA continues to work with partners, such as CDC, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state agencies, on lead mapping and modeling. EPA, HUD, and CDC recently co-authored a paper in the American Journal of Public Health on the state of the science and federal collaborations regarding lead data mapping.
EPA is also developing, evaluating, and applying new mapping and data analysis approaches to help identify communities with high lead exposure risks and contributing sources. Scientists in EPA’s Office of Research and Development and EPA Region 5 recently published an important article in Environmental Health Perspectives, in collaboration with federal and state partners. Using Michigan as an initial case study, EPA applied innovative data analyses of available blood lead and other data at the census tract level in Michigan to identify locations with high prevalence of children’s elevated blood lead levels. This case study provides a generalizable systematic screening approach that uses publicly available lead indices based on old housing and sociodemographic data (including EPA’s EJSCREEN Pb EJ index) to inform lead exposure targeting and reduction efforts. The statistical analysis used by EPA largely identified lead hot spots that were already known to Michigan, but it also identified places where more information and attention may be needed. This work will help EPA continue to advance its data analysis and mapping science for lead so that states and communities have the information needed to target and prioritize actions to reduce, prevent, and mitigate lead exposure risk.
Speaker: Valerie Zartarian