Firearm ownership is correlated with elevated lead levels in children, study finds
Brown-led research found that firearm-related lead ammunition use is an unregulated source of lead exposure in the U.S. that may disproportionately impact children.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Childhood lead exposure, primarily from paint and water, is a significant health concern in the United States, but a new study has identified a surprising additional source of lead exposure that may disproportionately harm children: firearms.
A team led by researchers at Brown University found an association between household firearm ownership and elevated lead levels in children’s blood in 44 states, even when controlling for other major lead exposure sources.
Lead exposure from firearms is far less explored than from recognized sources like water or lead-based paint, but may be equally dangerous for children’s health, said Christian Hoover, a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology at Brown’s School of Public Health, who is the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
“This is very concerning because we don’t have a system of monitoring lead from firearm use, as we do with residential paint, and there is no system in place to minimize or prevent children’s exposure to lead in firearms,” Hoover said. “Firearm use is a relatively unchecked source of childhood exposure to lead. There’s currently no way to stop the exposure from happening and no interventions when it does.”
In the study, the association between elevated lead levels and firearm use was almost as strong as the association for lead-based paint, Hoover noted.
Lead levels in children in the United States have been persistently high for decades. While public health measures have been put in place to prevent and reduce childhood lead poisoning from paint and drinking water, blood lead levels haven’t concordantly dropped in significant measures, Hoover said.
Firearm-related take-home lead occurs when an individual discharges a firearm that uses lead-based ammunition and primer, which are the most commonly used in the United States, Hoover said. The lead dust settles on clothes and personal items, such as phones or bags, as well as in vehicles and common spaces. Children are more vulnerable to lead than adults due to their tendency to ingest contaminants through normal hand-to-mouth behaviors.
“Typically the places where the firearm-related lead collects, such as in carpets, are places where young children spend a considerable amount of time,” said Hoover, who is a co-investigator at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center.
A previous study led by Hoover found a link between firearms and elevated lead levels in children’s blood in cities and towns in Massachusetts; this new study involved the 44 U.S. states that report public health data on child blood lead levels.
Since there is no governmental database covering firearm ownership across states, the researchers used a widely-accepted proxy measure developed by the RAND Corporation to estimate state levels of household gun ownership. This metric combines data on firearm suicides, hunting licenses, subscriptions to Guns and Ammo magazine and background checks. They compared the data from the proxy measure with reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of blood lead concentration surveillance data for children under 6. The analysis spanned the years between 2012 and 2018.
According to the study, for every 10% increase in the number of households that report owning a gun, there is an approximate 30% increase in cases of elevated pediatric blood lead levels.
Childhood exposure to lead increases the risk of behavioral problems, reduced cognitive abilities and poor growth and development. There is no safe level of lead exposure, said Joseph Braun, a professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Children’s Environmental Health at Brown.
“Despite public health efforts to prevent or reduce childhood lead exposure, a substantial proportion of U.S. children are still exposed,” Braun said. “Thus, we need to identify other modifiable sources of lead exposure in children’s environments to protect their developing bodies and brains.”
The authors concluded that the data suggest firearms are a notable source of child lead exposure that requires more targeted research.
Alan Fossa, a postdoctoral research associate in environmental health at Brown, also contributed to this study.
This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R21 ES034187).
JOURNAL
The Journal of Pediatrics
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Data/statistical analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Firearm-related Lead Exposure and Child Lead Levels in the United States, 2012-2018
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
22-Feb-2024
COI STATEMENT
Declaration of competing interest: JMB has been compensated for serving as an expert witness for plaintiffs involved in PFAS-contaminated drinking water and has NIH funding: R21 ES034187. MR has grants from the CDC and NIH related to firearm injury, and has unpaid roles as Senior Strategic Advisor to AFFIRM at the Aspen Institute and as a Board Member for the NonViolence Institute. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Firearm access and gun violence exposure among American Indian or Alaska native and Black adults
JAMA Network Open
Peer-Reviewed PublicationAbout The Study: In this nationally representative survey study of 3,542 American Indian or Alaska Native and Black U.S. adults, a substantial percentage of both groups reported living in homes with firearms, storing firearms loaded and unlocked, frequently carrying firearms outside the home, and having been exposed directly and indirectly to gun violence. These findings underscore the need for nuanced public health campaigns and policies and highlight challenges for law enforcement in contexts of racial disparities and changing legal frameworks.
Authors: Michael D. Anestis, Ph.D., of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in Piscataway, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.0073)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
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About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
JOURNAL
JAMA Network Open
Firearm access and gun violence exposure are common in Black and native communities
These groups have experienced “heartbreaking levels of gun violence victimization” in the U.S., says Rutgers Health expert
A New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center study is the first to provide nationally representative data on gun use, storage and violence within Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native (AIAN) families.
Both Black and native communities have seen increasingly elevated rates of gun violence victimization, including homicide and suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In recent years, minorities have become more represented among new firearm owners. Despite this, research on firearm access, storage and use has focused on samples of white adults. This prevents understanding the access Black and native individuals have to firearms, whether they are stored securely and carry them outside their homes.
“Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native communities have experienced heartbreaking levels of gun violence victimization, but research has told us very little about the extent to which individuals in these communities have access to firearms and how they interact with firearms in their daily lives,” said Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers Health and the lead author of the study appearing in the journal JAMA Network Open. “If we want to address gun violence within these communities, we need to first understand the ways in which the individuals within the communities are engaging with firearms.”
Rutgers researchers surveyed nationally representative samples of English-speaking Black and native adults in the late spring of 2023 and assessed how many individuals have access to firearms, what types of firearms they have, why they have firearms and how they store them. They also assessed how frequently they carry their firearms, why they do so, and in what locations. Finally, researchers assessed the extent to which individuals in these communities have been victimized by gun violence, know others who have been victimized by gun violence or have experienced incidents of gun violence in their neighborhoods.
The researchers found nearly 1 in 3 (30.4%) Black adults and nearly half (45.5%) of AIAN adults reported keeping firearms in their home. In both samples, home protection was the most common reason for firearm access and handguns were the most frequently owned type of firearm. Although about half of the individuals in each sample reported regularly storing firearms securely, a nearly equal proportion reported never using secure storage.
The researchers also found nearly 1 in 5 adults in each sample regularly carry firearms outside their homes. Self-protection was the most common reason for doing so, but a number of individuals in both groups reported carrying firearms to protect others and because they lack faith in the police.
In both samples, gun violence exposure was startlingly common: Numbers of both Black (21.7%) and native (30.2%) adults reported they had been threatened with a firearm and about 40% in both groups reported personally knowing someone who had been shot.
To better understand how universal these results are within each sample, the authors examined the extent to which findings varied based upon sex, age, geographic location, rurality and political beliefs.
Although many findings remained similar across each of these subgroups, the authors noticed some variability.
“Our findings show that firearms are frequently present in the homes of Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native adults, with most owning for personal protection, many storing the firearms unsecured, and a meaningful group regularly carrying the firearms when they leave their homes,” Anestis said,
“In addition to the frequent presence of and interactions with firearms, both communities endorsed high levels of gun violence exposure,” he continued. “What this tells me is that firearms are, in many cases, dramatically impacting the daily lives of individuals in these communities and our efforts to prevent gun violence – including through the promotion of secure firearm storage – much adapt to fit the reality of firearms within these particular communities.”
JOURNAL
JAMA Network Open
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Survey
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Firearm access and gun violence exposure in Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native adults: Results from a representative cross-sectional survey
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
4-Mar-2024
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