Lead Poisoning in Chicago

Lead exposure has been linked to many adverse health effects. Some being behavioral and emotional problems [1], cancer [2] , and cardiovascular health [3]. What does the data show for the city of Chicago? Using the City Data Portal [4], I was able to visualize the correlation, or lack of, between lead and these three health issues.

Methodology:

Data was visualized using tableau. The original source only included community area names rather than geographic location, so latitude and longitude were added in order to map data.

Lead concentrations are visualized by a color scale, while the health effect is visualized by a size scale. For extra insight, the map is color coded by income level.

Link to Tableau: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/kayla4771/viz/LeadChicago/Story1#1

Curiosity 1: Behavioral Problems

According to the study by the National Institutes of Health [1], even small amounts of lead levels in children have been linked to long term behavioral effects. Including an increased risk of aggression.

• On the map below you can see there seems to be a correlation between higher levels of lead in children and increased incidences of homicide per neighborhood.

• Additionally, both problems are more frequent in lower income neighborhoods.

Curiosity 2: Lung Cancer

A meta-analysis on the effects of lead exposure [2] did not find strong evidence for increased risk of certain cancers. However there was some evidence to possibly link lung cancer. For this reason I chose to highlight it specifically rather than the overall rate of all cancers.

• The rate of lung cancer seems to be slightly elevated in lower income neighborhoods.

• However, there is not a clear pattern of correlation with lead.

• This could be due to lung cancer having other risk factors, such as smoking.

Curiosity 3: Stroke

In the article Cardiovascular effects of lead exposure [3], they state that even small amounts of blood lead levels can be linked with increased risk of stroke.

• Similar to lung cancer, the risk of stroke appears to be similar across all neighborhoods in Chicago, with a slight increase in lower income neighborhoods.

• Also similar to lung cancer, stroke has multiple risk factors which are not controlled for in this data.

Further Discussion

Is it lead or income? Correlation vs Causation.

In each of the graphs there seemed to be an association between low income and adverse health effects. However, there is also higher lead exposure in lower income neighborhoods. Could some health problems just be a result of lack of access to healthcare? Or are they all related? Or are they all just coincidence? It will take more than these graph to prove anything. But I hope that it sparked your interest and made you aware of the dangers of lead.