Combining datasets to predict the effects of regulation of environmental lead exposure in housing stock

A model for children's blood lead concentrations as a function of environme ntal lead exposures was developed by combining two nationally representativ e sources of data that characterize the marginal distributions of blood lea d and environmental lead with a third regional dataset that contains joint measures of blood lead and environmental lead. The complicating factor addr essed in this article was the fact that methods for assessing environmental lead were different in the national and regional datasets. Relying on an a ssumption of transportability (that although the marginal distributions of blood lead and environmental lead may be different between the regional dat aset and the nation as a whole, the joint relationship between blood lead a nd environmental lead is the same), the model makes use of a latent variabl e approach to estimate the joint distribution of blood lead and environment al lead nationwide.