OSC Scientific Seminar 2021-2022

Friday 28th January 2022, 2:30 pm / 4 pm
Online conference via Zoom

Toxic Neighborhoods: The Effects of Concentrated Poverty and Environmental Lead Contamination on Early Childhood Development

Geoffrey Wodtke

Associate professor, The University of Chicago, Departement of Sociology

Although socioeconomic disparities in cognitive ability emerge early in the life course, most research on the consequences of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood focuses on school-age children or adolescents.

In this study, we outline and test a theoretical model of neighborhood effects on cognitive development during early childhood that highlights the mediating role of environmental health hazards, and in particular, exposure to neurotoxic lead.

To evaluate this model, we follow 1,266 children in Chicago from birth through the time of school entry, tracking their areal risk of lead exposure and the socioeconomic composition of their neighborhoods over time.
We then estimate the joint effects of neighborhood poverty and environmental lead contamination on receptive vocabulary ability.

We find that sustained exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods reduces vocabulary skills during early childhood and that this effect operates through a causal mechanism involving lead contamination.

Registration is mandatory (the link for the videoconference will be sent one day before)

To find out more: Profile Page - CV