The department of environmental health in the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati is embarking on a study of African American women to see how childhood lead exposure impacted their bone and muscle health later in life.
Amit Bhattacharya, a professor of environmental health and one of the leaders of the study, stated that “our hypothesis is that detrimental changes in bone and muscular parameters associated with early lead exposure could predispose African-American women collectively to greater risk of early osteoporosis and falls compared to persons with no or lower lead exposure.”
The study is part of the long-term Cincinnati Lead Study that has followed 376 people who were born in high-risk areas of Cincinnati between 1979 and 1984. The study is being funded by a $2.35 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
