Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 18, Issue 5, 2016, Pages 979-986

Behavioral and Environmental Explanations of Elevated Blood Lead Levels in Immigrant Children and Children of Immigrants (Article)

Kaplowitz S.A.* , Perlstadt H. , Dziura J.D. , Post L.A.
  • a Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, Rm 418B Berkey Hall, 509 E Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824-1111, United States
  • b Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, Rm 418B Berkey Hall, 509 E Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824-1111, United States
  • c Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
  • d Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States

Abstract

Immigrant/refugee children sometimes have substantially higher blood lead levels (BLLs) than US-born children in similar environments. We try to understand why, by exploring the relationship between immigration status of mother and the BLLs of US-born children. We compared BLLs of children born in Michigan to immigrant and non-immigrant parents, using the Michigan database of BLL tests for 2002–2005, which includes the child’s race, Medicaid eligibility and address. We added census data on socio-demographic/housing characteristics of the child’s block group, and information about parents. Low parental education, single parent households, mothers’ smoking and drinking, all increase the child’s BLL. However, immigrant parents had fewer characteristics associated with high BLL than US born parents, and their children had lower BLLs than children of US-born mothers. Our findings suggest that prior findings of higher BLLs among immigrant/refugee children probably result from them starting life in high-lead environments. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

immigrants Family structure health behaviors Blood lead level lead poisoning

Index Keywords

refugee Michigan Continental Population Groups ancestry group human Refugees Health Behavior statistics and numerical data housing drinking ethnology United States Humans migrant smoking Infant, Newborn lead male preschool child Emigrants and Immigrants Infant Child, Preschool environmental exposure newborn socioeconomics Socioeconomic Factors female Mothers blood mother medicaid
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84982801590&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-015-0243-8&partnerID=40&md5=e6e3290539c147ec00e8e9ad032b969e
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-015-0243-8
ISSN: 15571912
Cited by: 10
Original Language: English