Brian B Boutwell1, Erik J Nelson2, Brett Emo3, Michael G Vaughn4, Mario Schootman2, Richard Rosenfeld5, Roger Lewis3. 1. School of Social Work, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 3550 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63103-1021, United States; Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104-1399, United States. Electronic address: boutwellb@slu.edu. 2. Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104-1399, United States. 3. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104-1399, United States. 4. School of Social Work, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, 3550 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63103-1021, United States. 5. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63121, United States.
Abstract
CONTEXT: Childhood lead exposure has been associated with criminal behavior later in life. The current study aimed to analyze the association between elevated blood lead levels (n=59,645) and crime occurrence (n=90,433) across census tracts within St. Louis, Missouri. DESIGN: Longitudinal ecological study. SETTING: Saint Louis, Missouri. EXPOSURE MEASURE: Blood lead levels. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Violent, Non-violent, and total crime at the census tract level. RESULTS: Spatial statistical models were used to account for the spatial autocorrelation of the data. Greater lead exposure at the census-tract level was associated with increased violent, non-violent, and total crime. In addition, we examined whether non-additive effects existed in the data by testing for an interaction between lead exposure and concentrated disadvantage. Some evidence of a negative interaction emerged, however, it failed to reach traditional levels of statistical significance (supplementary models, however, revealed a similar negative interaction that was significant). CONCLUSIONS: More precise measurements of lead exposure in the aggregate, produced additional evidence that lead is a potent predictor of criminal outcomes.
CONTEXT: Childhood lead exposure has been associated with criminal behavior later in life. The current study aimed to analyze the association between elevated blood lead levels (n=59,645) and crime occurrence (n=90,433) across census tracts within St. Louis, Missouri. DESIGN: Longitudinal ecological study. SETTING: Saint Louis, Missouri. EXPOSURE MEASURE: Blood lead levels. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Violent, Non-violent, and total crime at the census tract level. RESULTS: Spatial statistical models were used to account for the spatial autocorrelation of the data. Greater lead exposure at the census-tract level was associated with increased violent, non-violent, and total crime. In addition, we examined whether non-additive effects existed in the data by testing for an interaction between lead exposure and concentrated disadvantage. Some evidence of a negative interaction emerged, however, it failed to reach traditional levels of statistical significance (supplementary models, however, revealed a similar negative interaction that was significant). CONCLUSIONS: More precise measurements of lead exposure in the aggregate, produced additional evidence that lead is a potent predictor of criminal outcomes.
Authors: Rebecca G Brady; Cynthia E Rogers; Trinidi Prochaska; Sydney Kaplan; Rachel E Lean; Tara A Smyser; Joshua S Shimony; George M Slavich; Barbara B Warner; Deanna M Barch; Joan L Luby; Christopher D Smyser Journal: Biol Psychiatry Date: 2022-04-12 Impact factor: 12.810
Authors: Yanfen Lin; Lihua Huang; Jian Xu; Aaron J Specht; Chonghuai Yan; Hongquan Geng; Xiaoming Shen; Linda H Nie; Howard Hu Journal: Sci Total Environ Date: 2018-12-15 Impact factor: 7.963
Authors: Brian B Boutwell; Erik J Nelson; Zhengmin Qian; Michael G Vaughn; John P Wright; Kevin M Beaver; J C Barnes; Melissa Petkovsek; Roger Lewis; Mario Schootman; Richard Rosenfeld Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-11-27 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson; John M MacDonald; Michael Fisher; Xiwei Chen; Aralia Pawlick; Philip J Cook Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2022-02-08 Impact factor: 11.205