1. Lead contamination of public drinking water and academic achievements among children in Massachusetts: a panel study
- Author
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Ronnie Levin, Joel Schwartz, and Wenxin Lu
- Subjects
Academic Success ,Schools ,Public drinking ,Drinking Water ,education ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Water ,Contamination ,Academic performance ,Education ,Lead (geology) ,Socioeconomic Factors ,Lead ,Environmental health ,Humans ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Cognitive development ,Business ,Environmental epidemiology ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,Child ,Children ,Research Article ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
Background Public drinking water can be an important source exposure to lead, which can affect children’s cognitive development and academic performance. Few studies have looked at the impact of lead exposures from community water supplies or their impact on school achievements. We examined the association between annual community water lead levels (WLLs) and children’s academic performances at the school district level. Methods We matched the 90th percentile WLLs with the grade 3–8 standardized test scores from the Stanford Education Data Archive on Geographic School Districts by geographic location and year. We used multivariate linear regression and adjusted for urbanicity, race, socioeconomic characteristics, school district, grade, and year. We also explored potential effect measure modifications and lag effects. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, a 5 μg/L increase in 90th percentile WLLs in a GSD was associated with a 0.00684 [0.00021, 0.01348] standard deviation decrease in the average math test score in the same year. No association was found for English Language Arts. Conclusions We found an association between the annual fluctuation of WLLs and math test scores in Massachusetts school districts, after adjusting for confounding by urbanicity, race, socioeconomic factors, school district, grade, and year. The implications of a detectable effect of WLLs on academic performance even at the modest levels evident in MA are significant and timely. Persistent efforts should be made to further reduce lead in drinking water.
- Published
- 2022