Fighting Lead Poisoning: Effective Conditions for Home-Based Education, Housing Remediation, and Relocation

TL;DR

This study examines how education, housing fixes, and relocation affect children's lead poisoning in Marseille, finding that all interventions help reduce lead exposure.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of combined interventions for reducing childhood lead poisoning in different housing conditions.

Findings

Education, housing remediation, and relocation all significantly reduced blood lead levels in legal substandard housing.

In slums, housing relocation and education were effective, though to a lesser extent.

Access to legal housing was the most effective intervention in slum areas.

Abstract

Background—Against childhood lead poisoning, removing lead exposure is the main measure, but how to do it effectively has not been fully established. Our objective was to determine the impact of several interventions (education, housing remediation, and relocation) on children’s blood lead levels. Methods—A historical cohort of childhood lead poisoning was drawn in Marseille, France, from 2011 to 2018. A generalized mixed model was developed to study the kinetics of blood lead levels. Results—We included 151 children, with 56% living in legal substandard housing and others living in slums. Medical follow-up (median: 612 days) included 492 blood samples. In legal substandard housing, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with every intervention. In slums, blood lead level decrease was significantly associated with housing relocation and education, although to a lesser extent. Conclusions—Every intervention contributed to reducing blood lead levels in substandard housing. Educational intervention is rapidly implemented. Housing remediation follows a long-lasting but effective legal procedure. Some families get housing relocation, depending on their financial resources or whether they are eligible for social housing. In slums, access to legal housing is the most effective against environmental exposure and education has a wider impact on health literacy.

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