Objective: The US Gulf region is heavily reliant on metal-emitting petrochemical and manufacturing industries. We characterized the effect of residential proximity to metal-emitting sites and metal body burden in Gulf states residents with particular attention to potential differential exposure burden by race.
Methods: We measured toenail concentrations of arsenic, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in 413 non-smoking men from the Gulf Long-term Follow-Up Study. Point sources of industrial metal emissions were identified using the US EPA's National Emissions Inventory (NEI) database and geocoded to participant residential addresses. For each metal, we assessed associations of toenail metal concentrations with the inverse-distance weighted number of emissions sites and volume of air-metal emissions within 30 km radial buffers of participant residences using multivariable linear regression. Results were stratified by race.
Results: Compared to self-identified Non-Hispanic (NH) White participants, NH Black participants lived closer to NEI sites but had 23-70% lower toenail metal concentrations adjusting for other personal/behavioral factors. Residential proximity to lead-emitting NEI sites was positively associated with toenail Pb concentration while proximity to mercury-emitting NEI sites was inversely associated with toenail Hg concentration. Findings for lead were significantly attenuated after adjustment for neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors.
Conclusion: Residential proximity to lead-emitting NEI sites in the US Gulf region is associated with a higher body burden of lead. However, this relationship may be driven in part by non-NEI factors related to residence in industry-adjacent neighborhoods.
Keywords: Environmental Justice; Exposure Assessment; Metals; Toenail Biomarkers.