LEVERAGING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA LINKAGES TO STUDY WATERBORNE LEAD EXPOSURE IN LONGITUDINAL AGING COHORT STUDIES

Q: Why is early childhood lead exposure important to study?

Lead exposure in early childhood can produce lasting cognitive, behavioral, and physiological effects. Despite widespread exposure, long-term consequences are not well studied using a life-course perspective.

Q: How does the study estimate waterborne lead exposure?

Exposure is operationalized using administrative linkage-derived information on water service line materials and municipal water pH, anchored to participants’ residential home address at birth.

Q: What role does childhood socioeconomic status (SES) play in the results?

Pb exposure follows a socioeconomic gradient, with the lowest-SES cohort showing the highest estimated Pb exposure levels and decreasing across higher SES groups.

Sep 28, 2026

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Lead (Pb) is a neurotoxin with lasting cognitive, behavioral, and physiological effects, especially after early-childhood exposure. Administrative data linkages can enable life-course studies to define early childhood Pb exposure. The Boston Early Adversity and Mortality Study linked municipal, state, and federal records with multiple Boston longitudinal cohorts and siblings. Water service line materials and residential water pH at birth were used to estimate exposure, then examined across childhood SES gradients. Results supported feasibility and revealed strong socioeconomic variation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Background and Aim

Study Design and Data Linkage

Cohort Integration

Exposure Operationalization

Exposure Estimation and SES Analysis

Findings and Research Implications

Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 429 United States, 7. VA National Center for PTSD & Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States Lead (Pb) is a neurotoxin with lasting cognitive, behavioral, and physiological effects, particularly when exposure occurs in early childhood. Nearly half of the U.S. population today experienced Pb exposure during this critical developmental period, yet few studies have examined its long-term health consequences using a life course perspective. We aim to demonstrate the feasibility of aging cohort studies to construct a phenotype of early childhood Pb exposure via administrative data linkages. The Boston Early Adversity and Mortality Study integrated municipal, state, and federal records with data from three Boston-based, socioeconomically diverse longitudinal cohorts (the Normative Aging Study [NAS] and the Grant and Glueck [GG] cohorts of the Harvard Study of Adult Development) and added siblings (NBEAMS=13,151; nNAS=9,972, nGG=3,179). Pb exposure was operationalized using linkage-derived information on water service line materials (non-Pb, Pb, mixed Pb and non-Pb) and municipal water pH (continuous) anchored to participants’ residential home address at birth. We examined Pb exposure patterns by childhood SES status. We identified birth locations for 99% of the 12,559 U.S.-born BEAMS participants, spanning 688 unique city-state combinations. Pb exposure could be estimated for 52% of 688 birth locations, covering 93%(n=11,654) of U.S.-born BEAMS participants. Pb exposure followed a socioeconomic gradient,χ2(4)=1,035.9, p<.0001, such that 90%, 66%, and 37% of the lowest- (Glueck), middle- (NAS), and highest- (Grant) SES cohorts, respectively, had the highest Pb exposure levels.We discuss the value of administrative data linkages in reconstructing environmental exposures and advancing life course research. Abstract citation ID: igaf122.1460 LEVERAGING ADMINISTRATIVE DATA LINKAGES TO STUDY WATERBORNE LEAD EXPOSURE IN LONGITUDINAL AGING COHORT STUDIES Victoria Marino1, Joseph Ferrie2, Mina Antic3, Ashley Dorame4, Avron Spiro5, Robert Waldinger6, Daniel Mroczek2, and Lewina Lee7, 1. VA Boston Health Care System, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States, 3. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 4. Boston University-Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 5. Boston UniversityChobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Waban, United States, 6. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

FAQs

Why is early childhood lead exposure important to study?

Lead exposure in early childhood can produce lasting cognitive, behavioral, and physiological effects. Despite widespread exposure, long-term consequences are not well studied using a life-course perspective.

How does the study estimate waterborne lead exposure?

Exposure is operationalized using administrative linkage-derived information on water service line materials and municipal water pH, anchored to participants’ residential home address at birth.

What role does childhood socioeconomic status (SES) play in the results?

Pb exposure follows a socioeconomic gradient, with the lowest-SES cohort showing the highest estimated Pb exposure levels and decreasing across higher SES groups.

Sep 28, 2026

Upload by Adam