The Distribution of Air Lead Levels Across U.S. Counties: Implications for the Production of Racial Inequality

This work draws upon previous studies of environmental inequity to investigate the distribution of estimated air lead concentrations across 3,111 U.S. counties. Data for this research come from the U.S. Census Bureau's 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Summary Tape File 3A and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 1990 Cumulative Exposure Project . Findings from OLS and WLS regression suggest that air lead concentrations are associated with county racial composition. Counties with the largest proportion of Black youth under 16 years of age (10th decile=0.09) have nearly 7.9 percent more lead in the air than counties with no Black youth (1st decile=0.00). Counties with the largest proportion of White youth under 16 years of age (10th decile=0.25) have nearly 10.0 percent less lead in the air than counties with the smallest proportion of White youth (1st decile=0.13). These findings persist despite adjustments for urbanization, income, and housing values. This work proposes that the distribution of air lead levels has important implications for the field of sociology and the study of racial inequality.