Is exposure to toxic metals contributing to ethnic and social health inequalities in children and young adults in the UK?

在英国，少数民族和贫困社区的人比白人和富裕家庭的人健康状况差，原因尚不完全清楚。这是不公平的，需要进一步研究，试图找到改善社会弱势群体健康的方法。有一些证据表明，少数民族（特别是孟加拉国人、巴基斯坦人和印度人）以及生活在贫困地区的人，接触铅、镉和砷等金属污染物的几率更高。如果是这样，这可能会导致这些群体的健康状况较差，需要紧急调查。在这个项目中，我们将试图回答对公共卫生很重要的三个问题：-少数民族和贫困社区的儿童和年轻人的血液和尿液中是否含有较高水平的金属污染物？-高水平的这些金属是否与较差的健康状况有关，特别是肺功能下降、血压升高、在学校和完成测试思维和记忆的任务时表现较差？-在少数民族和贫困社区，这些金属含量较高是否导致健康状况较差？我们召集了一个强大的专家团队来回答这些问题。我们将测量四项英国研究中孕妇、儿童和年轻人的血液和尿液样本中铅、镉和砷的含量。这将使我们能够比较来自不同背景的个体之间这些金属的水平，并了解在生命的不同时期（包括出生前）测量的较高水平是否与较差的健康状况有关。该项目可查明社区中健康可能因较多接触金属污染物而受到损害的弱势群体。我们的研究结果将引起英国卫生安全局（正式名称为英格兰公共卫生部）的特别关注，该机构负责保护公众免受这些金属对健康的有害影响。最终，我们希望这项研究能帮助我们找到减少接触这些金属污染物的方法，从而改善英国弱势群体的健康。

People in ethnic minority and deprived communities in the UK have poorer health than people from White and more affluent backgrounds, for reasons that are not fully understood. This is unfair and requires further research to try to find ways to improve the health of those who are disadvantaged in society. There is some evidence to suggest that people from ethnic minorities (especially Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian), and those living in deprived areas, have higher exposure to metal pollutants, including lead, cadmium and arsenic. If so, this may be contributing to poorer health in these groups, and needs to be investigated urgently. In this project we will try to answer three questions which are important for public health:- Do children and young adults from ethnic minorities and deprived communities have higher levels of metal pollutants in their blood and urine?- Are higher levels of these metals associated with poorer health, in particular, lower lung function, higher blood pressure, and worse performance at school and doing tasks which test their thinking and memory?- Are higher levels of these metals contributing to the poorer health we see in ethnic minority and deprived communities?We have brought together a strong team of experts to answer these questions. We will measure levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic in stored blood and urine samples taken from pregnant women, children and young adults from four English studies. This will allow us to compare levels of these metals between individuals from different backgrounds, and to see whether higher levels, measured at different times of life (including before birth), are associated with poorer health.This project could identify vulnerable groups in the community whose health may be suffering from higher exposure to metal pollutants. Our findings will be of particular interest to the UK Health Security Agency (formally Public Health England) who is responsible for protecting the public from harmful effects of these metals on health. Ultimately we hope that this research will help us to discover ways to reduce exposure to these metal pollutants, and hence to improve the health of disadvantaged communities in the UK.