THE RACIAL ECOLOGY OF LEAD
POISONING
Toxic Inequality in Chicago Neighborhoods,
1995-2013
Robert J. Sampson
Department of Sociology , Harvard University
Alix S. Winter
Department of Sociology , Harvard University
Abstract
This paper examines the racial ecology of lead exposure as a form of environmental inequity,
one with both historical and contemporary significance. Drawing on comprehensive data from
over one million blood tests administered to Chicago children from 1995-2013 and matched
to over 2300 geographic block groups, we address two major questions: (1) What is the
nature of the relationship between neighborhood-level racial composition and variability
in children’s elevated lead prevalence levels? And (2) what is the nature of the relationship
between neighborhood-level racial composition and rates of change in children’s prevalence
levels over time within neighborhoods? We further assess an array of structural explanations
for observed racial disparities, including socioeconomic status, type and age of housing,
proximity to freeways and smelting plants, and systematic observations of housing decay
and neighborhood disorder. Overall, our theoretical framework posits lead toxicity as a major
environmental pathway through which racial segregation has contributed to the legacy of
Black disadvantage in the United States. Our findings support this hypothesis and show
alarming racial disparities in toxic exposure, even after accounting for possible structural
explanations. At the same time, however, our longitudinal results show the power of public
health policies to reduce racial inequities.
Keywords: Lead Poisoning , Inequality , Segregation , Neighborhoods , Chicago ,
Public Health
Du Bois Review, 13:2 (2016) 261– 283 .
© 2016 Hutchins Center for African and African American Research 1742-058X/16 $15.00
doi:10.1017/S1742058X16000151
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