Quasi-experimental studies suggest that lowering air pollution levels benefits infants' and children's health

Health Affairs

Volumn 30, Issue 12, 2011, Pages 2391-2399

  Currie, Janet ^a   Ray, Samantha Heep ^b   Neidell, Matthew ^c  

^a PRINCETON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b International Arbitration and Litigation Practice   (United States)

^c Department of Medicine   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CARBON MONOXIDE;

ABSENTEEISM; AIR POLLUTANT; AIR POLLUTION CONTROL; ARTICLE; ASTHMA; BIRTH WEIGHT; CHILD HEALTH; CONGENITAL MALFORMATION; COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; FAMILY HEALTH; GRADUATE; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HEALTH INSURANCE; HOSPITALIZATION; HUMAN; INFANT MORTALITY; LOW BIRTH WEIGHT; PREGNANCY; PREGNANT WOMAN; PREMATURITY; QUASI EXPERIMENTAL STUDY; STUDENT;

AIR POLLUTANTS; AIR POLLUTION; CHILD; CHILD WELFARE; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; FEMALE; HEALTH POLICY; HEALTH STATUS; HUMANS; INFANT; INFANT MORTALITY; INFANT, NEWBORN; MALE; PREGNANCY; RESEARCH DESIGN; RISK ASSESSMENT; RISK FACTORS; UNITED STATES; VULNERABLE POPULATIONS;

EID: 84855677500     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 15445208     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0212     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Currie J, Thomas D. Early test scores, school quality, and SES: longrun effects on wage and employment outcomes. In: Polachek S, editor. Worker wellbeing in a changing labor market. Vol. 20, Research in labor economics. Bingley (UK): Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.; 2001. p. 103-32.
2. Black SE, Devereux PJ, Salvanes KG. From the cradle to the labor market? The effect of birth weight on adult outcomes. Q J Econ. 2007;122(1): 409-39.
3. Currie J, Moretti E. Biology as destiny? Short- and long-run determinants of intergenerational transmission of birth weight. J Labor Econ. 2007;25(2):231-64.
4. Oreopoulos P, Stabile M, Walld R, Roos LL. Short-, medium-, and longterm consequences of poor infant health: an analysis using siblings and twins. J Hum Resour. 2008; 43(1):88-138.
5. Royer H. Separated at girth: US twin estimates of the effects of birth weight. Am Econ J: Appl Econ. 2009;1:49-85.
6. The Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program is a tool developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to estimate the benefits from changes in air quality. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental benefits mapping and analysis program (BenMAP) [home page on the Internet]. Washington (DC): EPA; 2011 Aug 12 [cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from: http:// www.epa.gov/air/benmap/
7. Currie J, Neidell M, Schmeider J. Air pollution and infant health: lessons from New Jersey. J Health Econ. 2009;28 (3) 688-703.
8. World Health Organization. Effects of air pollution on children's health and development: a review of the evidence. Bonn: WHO, Special Programme on Health and Environment; 2005.
9. Although many other statistical techniques have been developed recently to increase our understanding of the relationship between pollution and health, the focus of this paper is solely on quasi-experimental techniques, which are primarily concerned with limiting threats from confounding. See Notes 10-12.
10. Dominici F, McDermott A, Hastie T. Improved semi-parametric time series models of air pollution and mortality. J Amer Stat Assoc. 2004; 468:938-48.
11. Schwartz J, Spix C, Touloumi G, Bachárová L, Barumamdzadeh T, le Tertre A, et al. Methodological issues in studies of air pollution and daily counts of deaths or hospital admissions. Am J Epidemiol. 1996; Suppl 1:S3-11.
12. Zanobetti A, Wand MP, Schwartz J, Ryan LM. Generalized additive distributed lag models: quantifying mortality displacement. Biostatistics. 2000(1):279-92.
13. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention provides a strong clinical base for such research. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention, program description [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): NIEHS; [cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from: http://www.niehs .nih.gov/research/supported/ centers/prevention/index.cfm
14. For additional information about alternative methods for assessing effects of pollution on children's health, see Kyle AD, Woodruff TJ, Axelrad DA. Integrated assessment of environment and health: America's children and the environment. Environ Health Perspect. 2006; 114(3):447-52.
15. Paul Mohai and colleagues found that schools in areas with the highest pollution (according to the Toxic Release Inventory) also have significantly more minority students and students receiving free lunch. Although they found that pollution levels are negatively associated with attendance rates and academic performance, these relationships are greatly attenuated in magnitude once these observable demographic characteristics are controlled for. This suggests that further confounding by unobserved differences (for example, in parental education or income) may still account for some of the association. Mohai P, Kweon B, Lee S, Ard K. Air pollution around schools is linked to poorer student health and academic performance. Health Aff (Millwood). 2011;30(5):852-62.
16. Akinbami LJ. The state of childhood asthma, United States, 1980-2005. Adv Data. 2006 Dec 12;(381):1-24.
17. Pope CA. Respiratory disease associated with community air pollution and a steel mill. Am J Public Health. 1989;79(5):623-28.
18. Ransom MR, Pope CA. Elementary school absences and PM10 pollution in Utah Valley. Environ Research. 1992;58(2):204-19.
19. Ransom MR, Pope CA III. Estimating external health costs of a steel mill. Contemp Econ Policy. 1995;13: 86-97.
20. Friedman MS, Powell KE, Hutwagner L, GrahamL, TeagueWG. Impact of changes in transportation and commuting behaviors during the 1996 summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on air quality and childhood asthma. JAMA. 2001;285(7):897-905. The study also looked at asthma outcomes for adults and found a similar drop in hospitalizations.
21. Lleras-Muney A. The needs of the Army: using compulsory relocation in the military to estimate the effect of air pollutants on children's health. J Hum Resour. 2010;45(3):549-90.
22. Currie J, Hanushek E, Kahn EM, Neidell M, Rivkin S. Does pollution increase school absences? Rev Econ Stat. 2009;91(4):682-94.
23. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infant mortality and low birth weight among black and white infants-United States, 1980-2000. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2002;51(27):589-92.
24. HealthyPeople.gov. Maternal, infant, and child health objectives: 2020 topics and objectives [Internet]. Washington (DC): Department of Health and Human Services; [last updated 2011 Oct 31; cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/ topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist .aspx?topicid=26
25. Chay KY, Greenstone M. The impact of air pollution on infant mortality: evidence from geographic variation in pollution shocks induced by a recession. Q J Econ. 2003;118(3): 1121-67.
26. Currie J, Neidell M. Air pollution and infant health: what can we learn from California's recent experience? Q J Econ. 2005;120(3):1003-30.
27. Child Trends Data Bank. Low and very low birth weight infants [Internet]. Washington (DC): Child Trends; 2010 Dec [cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from: http://www.child trendsdatabank.org/?q=node/67
28. Currie J, Walker R. Traffic congestion and infant health: evidence from E-ZPass. Am Econ J: Appl Econ. 2011;3(1):65-90.
29. Currie J, Greenstone M, Moretti E. Superfund cleanups and infant health. Am Econ Rev. 2011;101(3): 435-41.
30. Tammelleo AD. NY: award for infants death reduced: interest from time expense incurred only. Hospital Law's Regan Report [serial on the Internet]. 2000 [cited 2011 Oct 5]. Available from: http://law-journalsbooks. vlex.com/vid/award-infantsreduced-expense-incurred-52758068
31. Environmental Protection Agency. Letter to Administrator Browner on valuing children's health in economic assessments-EPA response [Internet]. Washington (DC): EPA; 2009 Nov 22 [cited 2011 Oct 5]. Available from: http://yosemite .epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/ content/whatwe_roulett.htm
32. In a critical review, Viscusi and Aldy found that the value of statistical life generally ranges from $4 million to $9 million. Viscusi WK, Aldy JE. The value of a statistical life: a critical review of market estimates throughout the world. J Risk Uncertain. 2003;27(1):5-76.
33. Mazumdar M, Bellinger DC, Gregas M, Abanilla K, Bacic J, Needleman HL. Low-level environmental lead exposure in childhood and adult intellectual function: a follow-up study. Environ Health. 2011;10:24.
34. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [home page on the Internet]. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; [last updated 2011 Oct 28; cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm
35. National Center for Health Statistics. Analytic and reporting guidelines: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [Internet]. Hyattsville (MD): NCHS; 2006 Sep [cited 2011 Nov 8]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_03_04/ nhanes_analytic_guidelines_ dec_2005.pdf
36. Kravets N, Parker JD. Linkage of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to air quality data. Vital Health Stat 2. 2008; 149:1-16.
37. Schachter JP. Geographical mobility: 2002 to 2003: population characteristics [Internet]. Washington (DC): Census Bureau; 2004 Mar [cited 2011 Oct 5]. (Current Population Reports No. P20-549). Available from: http://www.census.gov/ prod/2004pubs/p20-549.pdf
38. Clougherty JE, Kheirbek I, Johnson S, Pezeshki G, Jacobson JB, Kass D, et al. The New York City Community Air Survey: results from winter monitoring 2008-2009 [Internet]. New York (NY): NYC Health, PlaNYC; 2009 [cited 2011 Nov 14]. Available from: http://www.nyc .gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/eode/comm-air-survey-reportwinter08-09.pdf
39. Dominici F, Zeger SL, Samet JM. Combining evidence on air pollution and daily mortality from the largest 20 US cities: a hierarchical modeling strategy. Royal Stat Society, Series A. 2000;163:263-302.
40. Neidell M. Information, avoidance behavior, and health: the effect of ozone on asthma hospitalizations. J Hum Resour. 2009;44(2):450-78.
41. Graff Zivin J, Neidell M. Days of haze: environmental information disclosure and intertemporal avoidance behavior. J Environ Econ Manage. 2009;58(2):119-28.
42. Scorecard: The Pollution Information Site. Pollution locator: toxic chemical releases [Internet]. Washington (DC): Green Media Toolshed; 2005 [cited 2011 Oct 5]. Available from: http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-releases/community.tcl
43. The ozone alert system is actually called the Air Quality Index and also includes measures of particulates. The program was pioneered by the EPA and has been adopted by most states. See AIRNow [home page on the Internet]. Washington (DC): Environmental Protection Agency; [cited 2011 Nov 3]. Available from:http://www.airnow.gov/
44. Currie J. Inequality at birth: some causes and consequences. Am Econ Rev. 2011;101(3):1-22.
45. National Children's Study. Study design [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Children's Study; 2010 [cited 2011 Oct 5]. Available from: http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov/research/studydesign/pages/default.aspx