Association of prenatal and childhood blood lead concentrations with criminal arrests in early adulthood.
Association of prenatal and childhood blood lead concentrations with criminal arrests in early adulthood.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pmed.0050101
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发表时间：
2008-05-27
期刊：
影响因子：
15.8
通讯作者：
Rae MN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wright JP;Dietrich KN;Ris MD;Hornung RW;Wessel SD;Lanphear BP;Ho M;Rae MN
儿童铅暴露被认为是反社会行为的一个危险因素，但之前的研究要么依赖于间接的暴露测量，要么没有跟踪参与者进入成年期，以检查铅暴露与年轻人犯罪活动之间的关系。这项研究的目的是确定产前和儿童血铅浓度是否与刑事犯罪的逮捕有关。研究人员从俄亥俄州辛辛那提市的四家产前诊所招募孕妇，如果她们居住在该市铅污染严重的老房子集中的地区。我们研究了1979年至1984年间出生时被招募的376名儿童中的250名，年龄在19岁至24岁之间。产前孕妇血铅浓度测量在怀孕的第一或早期中期三个月。儿童血铅浓度每季度和每两年测量一次，直到6.5年。研究参与者在俄亥俄州辛辛那提市的一家内城儿科诊所和辛辛那提儿童医院医疗中心接受检查。总逮捕人数和涉及暴力犯罪的逮捕人数是从俄亥俄州汉密尔顿县的官方刑事司法记录中收集的。主要结果为总逮捕率和暴力犯罪逮捕率随血铅浓度每升高5 μg/dl （0.24 μmol/l）的相关性。血铅浓度每增加5 μg/dl (0.24 μmol/l)，调整后的总骤停率更高：产前血铅的RR = 1.40(95%可信区间[CI] 1.07 - 1.85)，儿童平均血铅的RR = 1.07 (95% CI 0.88-1.29)， 6岁血铅的RR = 1.27 （95% CI 1.03-1.57）。血铅每增加5 μg/dl，暴力犯罪的校正逮捕率也更高：产前血铅的RR = 1.34 (95% CI 0.88-2.03)，儿童平均血铅的RR = 1.30 (95% CI 1.03-1.64)， 6岁血铅的RR = 1.48 （95% CI 1.15-1.89）。产前和产后血铅浓度与总逮捕率和/或暴力犯罪逮捕率较高有关。这是第一个前瞻性的研究，以证明发展接触铅和成人犯罪行为之间的联系。Kim Dietrich和他的同事们发现在发育过程中接触铅与成人犯罪行为之间存在关联。暴力犯罪在许多国家都是一个日益严重的问题，但是为什么有些人比其他人更具攻击性呢？在几项研究中，男性已被确定为暴力犯罪行为的一个风险因素，还有出生前接触烟草、父母反社会以及来自贫困家庭。成年后反社会行为的另一个潜在风险因素是儿童时期接触铅，尽管很少有研究直接关注儿童时期接触铅是否与成年后的犯罪行为有关。铅是一种有毒金属，摄入或吸入后会损害神经系统。它存在于整个环境中，因为它在过去广泛应用于油漆、水管焊料和汽油中。1978年，1350万美国儿童血铅水平高于10 μg/dl，这是目前美国疾病控制和预防中心关注的血铅水平（美国平均血铅水平为2 μg/dl）。美国联邦政府分别于1978年和1986年禁止使用含铅涂料和焊料；含铅汽油最终在1996年被淘汰。到2002年，只有31万美国儿童的血铅水平超过10 μg/dl。然而，儿童接触到低于这个水平的铅——例如，通过摄入旧含铅油漆的薄片或灰尘残留物——可能会出现智力发育不良和行为问题，包括攻击性。尽管一些研究表明儿童铅暴露与后来的犯罪行为有关，但这些研究往往依赖于儿童铅暴露的间接测量，如年轻人的骨铅水平或铅中毒史。其他直接测量儿童铅暴露的研究并没有跟踪他们的参与者到成年。在这项新研究中，研究人员调查了产前和儿童血铅浓度的实际测量值与成年早期犯罪逮捕之间的关系，以更清楚地了解早期铅暴露是否与随后的暴力行为有关。1979年至1984年期间，研究人员招募了居住在辛辛那提贫困地区的孕妇，这些地区有大量老旧的、受铅污染的房屋，他们参加了辛辛那提铅研究。他们在怀孕期间测量了妇女的血铅浓度，以此作为她们后代产前铅暴露的指示，并定期测量孩子的血铅水平，直到他们六岁半。然后，他们从当地的刑事司法记录中获得了250只后代从18岁到2005年10月底被逮捕的次数。研究人员发现，出生前和儿童早期血铅水平的升高与任何原因和暴力犯罪的更高被捕率有关。例如，6岁时血铅水平每增加5 μg/dl，年轻时因暴力犯罪被捕的风险就增加近50%（“相对风险”为1.48）。这些发现提供了强有力的证据，表明早期铅暴露是成年后犯罪行为（包括暴力犯罪）的一个危险因素。一种可能性，作者在这项研究中无法评估，是铅暴露会损害智力，从而使罪犯更有可能被抓住（即被捕）。作者讨论了他们研究中的一些局限性——例如，他们可能没有捕捉到所有的犯罪行为（因为大多数犯罪行为不会导致逮捕）。尽管在过去的30年里，美国的环境铅水平和犯罪率都有所下降，但总体上的下降并不均匀——城市里的儿童仍然特别容易受到铅的影响。因此，研究结果表明，进一步减少儿童铅接触可能是减少暴力犯罪的重要和可实现的方法。请通过本摘要的在线版本http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050101访问这些网站。由David Bellinger撰写的PLoS Medicine Perspective文章进一步讨论了这项研究，以及一篇有关儿童铅暴露与成年后脑容量减少的相关论文。研究人员Kim Dietrich正在谈论“铅的致命遗产”，这是一个关于铅暴露与暴力犯罪的简短MP3，来自美国国家医学图书馆的互动网站Toxtown。提供有关环境健康问题的信息，包括接触铅（英文和西班牙文）美国环境保护署提供有关油漆、粉尘、和土壤以及保护儿童免受铅中毒（英语和西班牙语）MedlinePlus提供了铅中毒信息的链接列表（英语和西班牙语）美国疾病控制和预防中心提供了关于其儿童铅中毒预防计划的信息英国健康保护局也提供了关于铅及其健康危害的信息
Childhood lead exposure is a purported risk factor for antisocial behavior, but prior studies either relied on indirect measures of exposure or did not follow participants into adulthood to examine the relationship between lead exposure and criminal activity in young adults. The objective of this study was to determine if prenatal and childhood blood lead concentrations are associated with arrests for criminal offenses. Pregnant women were recruited from four prenatal clinics in Cincinnati, Ohio if they resided in areas of the city with a high concentration of older, lead-contaminated housing. We studied 250 individuals, 19 to 24 y of age, out of 376 children who were recruited at birth between 1979 and 1984. Prenatal maternal blood lead concentrations were measured during the first or early second trimester of pregnancy. Childhood blood lead concentrations were measured on a quarterly and biannual basis through 6.5 y. Study participants were examined at an inner-city pediatric clinic and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Total arrests and arrests for offenses involving violence were collected from official Hamilton County, Ohio criminal justice records. Main outcomes were the covariate-adjusted rate ratios (RR) for total arrests and arrests for violent crimes associated with each 5 μg/dl (0.24 μmol/l) increase in blood lead concentration. Adjusted total arrest rates were greater for each 5 μg/dl (0.24 μmol/l) increase in blood lead concentration: RR = 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07–1.85) for prenatal blood lead, 1.07 (95% CI 0.88–1.29) for average childhood blood lead, and 1.27 (95% CI 1.03–1.57) for 6-year blood lead. Adjusted arrest rates for violent crimes were also greater for each 5 μg/dl increase in blood lead: RR = 1.34 (95% CI 0.88–2.03) for prenatal blood lead, 1.30 (95% CI 1.03–1.64) for average childhood blood lead, and 1.48 (95% CI 1.15–1.89) for 6-year blood lead. Prenatal and postnatal blood lead concentrations are associated with higher rates of total arrests and/or arrests for offenses involving violence. This is the first prospective study to demonstrate an association between developmental exposure to lead and adult criminal behavior. Kim Dietrich and colleagues find an association between developmental exposure to lead and adult criminal behavior. Violent crime is an increasing problem in many countries, but why are some people more aggressive than others? Being male has been identified as a risk factor for violent criminal behavior in several studies, as have exposure to tobacco smoke before birth, having antisocial parents, and belonging to a poor family. Another potential risk factor for antisocial behavior as an adult is exposure to lead during childhood, although few studies have looked directly at whether childhood lead exposure is linked with criminal behavior in adulthood. Lead is a toxic metal that damages the nervous system when ingested or inhaled. It is present throughout the environment because of its widespread use in the past in paint, solder for water pipes, and gasoline. In 1978, 13.5 million US children had a blood lead level above 10 μg/dl, the current US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blood lead level of concern (the average US blood lead level is 2 μg/dl). Lead paint and solder were banned in 1978 and 1986, respectively, by the US federal government; leaded gasoline was finally phased out in 1996. By 2002, only 310,000 US children had a blood lead level above 10 μg/dl. However, children exposed to lower levels of lead than this—through ingesting flakes or dust residues of old lead paint, for example—can have poor intellectual development and behavioral problems including aggression. Although some studies have suggested that childhood lead exposure is associated with later criminal behavior, these studies have often relied on indirect measurements of childhood lead exposure such as bone lead levels in young adults or a history of lead poisoning. Other studies that have measured childhood lead exposure directly have not followed their participants into adulthood. In this new study, the researchers investigate the association between actual measurements of prenatal and childhood blood lead concentrations and criminal arrests in early adulthood to get a clearer idea about whether early lead exposure is associated with subsequent violent behavior. Between 1979 and 1984, the researchers recruited pregnant women living in poor areas of Cincinnati, which had a high concentration of older, lead-contaminated housing, into the Cincinnati Lead Study. They measured the women's blood lead concentrations during pregnancy as an indication of their offspring's prenatal lead exposure and the children's blood lead levels regularly until they were six and half years old. They then obtained information from the local criminal justice records on how many times each of the 250 offspring had been arrested between becoming 18 years old and the end of October 2005. The researchers found that increased blood lead levels before birth and during early childhood were associated with higher rates of arrest for any reason and for violent crimes. For example, for every 5 μg/dl increase in blood lead levels at six years of age, the risk of being arrested for a violent crime as a young adult increased by almost 50% (the “relative risk” was 1.48). These findings provide strong evidence that early lead exposure is a risk factor for criminal behavior, including violent crime, in adulthood. One possibility, which the authors were unable to assess in this study, is that lead exposure impairs intelligence, which in turn makes it more likely that a criminal offender will be caught (i.e., arrested). The authors discuss a number of limitations in their study—for example, they probably did not capture all criminal behavior (since most criminal behavior does not lead to arrest). Although both environmental lead levels and crime rates have dropped over the last 30 years in the US, the overall reduction was not uniform—inner-city children remain particularly vulnerable to lead exposure. The findings therefore suggest that a further reduction in childhood lead exposure might be an important and achievable way to reduce violent crime. Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050101. A PLoS Medicine Perspective article by David Bellinger further discusses this study and a related paper on childhood lead exposure and brain volume reduction in adulthood Study researcher Kim Dietrich can be heard talking about “The Lethal Legacy of Lead”, a brief MP3 about lead exposure and violent crime Toxtown, an interactive site from the US National Library of Medicine, provides information on environmental health concerns including exposure to lead (in English and Spanish) The US Environmental Protection Agency provides information on lead in paint, dust, and soil and on protecting children from lead poisoning (in English and Spanish) MedlinePlus provides a list of links to information on lead poisoning (in English and Spanish) The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides information about its Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program The UK Health Protection Agency also provides information about lead and its health hazards
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影响因子：
5.8
作者：
NAGIN, DS;FARRINGTON, DP
通讯作者：
FARRINGTON, DP
影响因子：
56.9
作者：
Caspi, A;McClay, J;Poulton, R
通讯作者：
Poulton, R
美国儿童的环境有毒物质和注意力缺陷多动障碍的暴露。
影响因子：
10.4
作者：
Braun, Joe M;Kahn, Robert S;Froehlich, Tanya;Auinger, Peggy;Lanphear, Bruce P
通讯作者：
Lanphear, Bruce P
影响因子：
10.4
作者：
Chen A;Dietrich KN;Ware JH;Radcliffe J;Rogan WJ
通讯作者：
Rogan WJ
影响因子：
2.9
作者：
DIETRICH, KN;BERGER, OG;BORNSCHEIN, RL
通讯作者：
BORNSCHEIN, RL