Date of Award
Spring 5-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Sociology & Criminal Justice
Program/Concentration
Applied Sociology
Committee Director
Roderick Graham
Committee Member
Jeehye Kang
Committee Member
Michael Deckard
Abstract
Racial minorities in the United States have suffered from being disadvantaged. Among these disadvantages is environmental racism. This includes minority communities being ‘sacrifice zones’ for toxic waste and being exposed to lead poisoning. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in blood levels between white children and children of color. This research will follow a bivariate model for the first research question, “Do youth of color (under the age of 18) have higher BLLs than white children?” The bivariate model will look at the relationship between ethno-racial group and BLLs. Specifically, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be run to test for statistically significant difference in BLLs between groups. A multilinear regression model will be run to answer the second question, “Do poor youth of color have higher BLLs than their white counterparts?”
Findings from the data support this study’s first research question. The data shows Blacks and Asians have higher BLLs than whites. The second research question is answered, but the answer is not what was expected because Asians are the wealthiest group according to the data, but also have the highest BLL average. Further research would need to be done on Asian communities to understand the phenomenon of having high BLLs, while also being the wealthiest race overall.
Rights
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DOI
10.25777/49pt-tt85
ISBN
9798819393475
Recommended Citation
Rivera, Erick.
"Blood Lead Levels in Minority Children: A Case of Environmental Racism"
(2022). Master of Arts (MA), Thesis, Sociology & Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/49pt-tt85
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_etds/63
Included in
Environmental Health Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Public Health Commons, Toxicology Commons