The effect of residential proximity to brownfields, highways, and heavy traffic on serum metal levels in the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study

Research in environmental sciences has demonstrated that land in close proximity to brownfields and heavily trafficked highways is contaminated with toxic metals. Despite this, little is known about the influence of brownfields and highways on metal levels in residents living nearby. We used data from 774 participants in the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study to estimate the effect of residential proximity to brownfields, highways, and present-day traffic on serum levels of lead, mercury, manganese, and copper using generalized estimating equations. We found that a 1 standard deviation increase in residential brownfield density within 200m was associated with increased serum lead levels (β: 0.04, 95% CI: −0.01, 0.09). The same modeled increase in a subset of historic industrial-use brownfields was associated with elevated serum mercury (β: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.09). Increased highway and traffic density was positively associated with serum manganese (β: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.04). Highway and traffic density was also positively associated with serum lead (β: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.03) after restricting the analysis to participants who did not move during the study follow-up period. These findings draw attention to the importance of remediating polluted post-industrial sites in heavily populated areas, particularly as residents continue to move into densely populated cities around the globe.