ArticleEnvironment international2022
Does short-term, airborne lead exposure during pregnancy affect birth outcomes? Quasi-experimental evidence from NASCAR's deleading policy.
Article in Environment international, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lead in Drinking Water and Child Health: Evidence From Jackson, Mississippi.Health economics · 2026Article
- Early-Life Lead Exposure and Male Longevity: Evidence from Historical Municipal Water Systems.Explorations in economic history · 2025Article
- Lead exposure at the feto-maternal interface: a cause for concern for fetal membrane trophoblasts.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2025Article
- Association of maternal metal exposure and psychological status with adverse pregnancy outcomes: a nested case-control study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Patterns of global burden of 13 diseases attributable to lead exposure, 1990-2019.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Leaded aviation gasoline exposure risk and child blood lead levels.PNAS nexus · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThere is evidence of a weak placental-fetal barrier to lead, suggesting that maternal lead exposure could affect the fetus. The health consequences for newborns from in utero lead exposure are not well understood.
objectivesWe estimated the effects by trimester, of short-term (<1 week), airborne lead exposure during pregnancy on birth outcomes.
methodsWe use quasi-experimental variation in airborne lead exposure during pregnancy, based on NASCAR's deleading of racing fuel in 2007, in a difference-in-differences model, to estimate the effect of deleading on the birth outcomes of all live births (n = 147,673) in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area between 2004 and 2009.
resultsAfter deleading, children born to mothers residing <4000 m of Charlotte Motor Speedway (relative to those residing >10,000 m) experienced an average increase in birthweight (BW) of 102.50 g [P < 0.001]. The probability of low birthweight (LBW) declined by 0.045 [P = 0.001], preterm (PRE) births by 0.03 [P = 0.04], and small for gestational age (SGA) by 0.04 [P = 0.002]. We find that benefits accrue primarily in preterm LBW and SGA babies, and from decreased lead exposure in the first trimester.
conclusionsShort-term exposure to airborne lead during pregnancy adversely affects birth outcomes. Reducing even very brief exposure to airborne lead during pregnancy may improve birth outcomes.
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