A Method to screen U. S. environmental biomonitoring data for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Anna Belova, Abt Associates Inc.; Susan L Greco, Abt Associates Inc.; Anne Riederer, Emory University; Lauren E W Olsho, Abt Associates Inc.; Mark A Corrales, Environmental Protection Agency
• Language: English
• Date: 2013-12-19
• Publisher: BMC (part of Springer Nature)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2013 Belova et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-12-114
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
• ISSN: 1342-078X
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: 114
• End Page: 114
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was funded through U.S. EPA; and Abt Associates’ Daniel McGillis Development and Dissemination Grant Program.
• Keywords: UNITED-STATES; Phthalates; Race; Ethnicity; US POPULATION; NHANES 1999-2004; Income; Biomonitoring; NHANES; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Science & Technology; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS; BLOOD LEAD; Environmental Sciences; NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY; EXPOSURE; Metals; Environmental justice; Dichlorophenol; AIR TOXICS; 3RD NATIONAL-HEALTH; PHTHALATE METABOLITES
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Environmental Sciences

Abstract

Background: Environmental biomonitoring data provide one way to examine race/ethnicity and income-related exposure disparity and identify potential environmental justice concerns. Methods. We screened U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2008 biomonitoring data for 228 chemicals for race/ethnicity and income-related disparity. We defined six subgroups by race/ethnicity - Mexican American, non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white - and income - Low Income: poverty income ratio (PIR) <2, High Income: PIR ≥ 2. We assessed disparity by comparing the central tendency (geometric mean [GM]) of the biomonitoring concentrations of each subgroup to that of the reference subgroup (non-Hispanic white/High Income), adjusting for multiple comparisons using the Holm-Bonferroni procedure. Results: There were sufficient data to estimate at least one geometric mean ratio (GMR) for 108 chemicals; 37 had at least one GMR statistically different from one. There was evidence of potential environmental justice concern (GMR significantly >1) for 12 chemicals: cotinine; antimony; lead; thallium; 2,4- and 2,5-dichlorophenol; p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene; methyl and propyl paraben; and mono-ethyl, mono-isobutyl, and mono-n-butyl phthalate. There was also evidence of GMR significantly <1 for 25 chemicals (of which 17 were polychlorinated biphenyls). Conclusions: Although many of our results were consistent with the U.S. literature, findings relevant to environmental justice were novel for dichlorophenols and some metals.