Prenatal air pollution exposure and neonatal health

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

Air pollution has been shown to have adverse effects on many health outcomes including respiratory effects, cardiovascular effects, and mortality. However, evidence on the effects of prenatal exposure is still limited. We investigate the causal impact of prenatal exposure to air pollution on neonatal health in Italy in the 2000s. We exploit variation in rainfall shocks to instrument for non-random air pollution exposure. Our empirical setting combines detailed information on mother's residential location from birth certificates with PM10 concentrations from air pollution monitors. Ten additional units in the average PM10 level (approximately one standard deviation) would decrease birth weight by about 0.5% and gestational age by 0.16%; it would increase the prevalence of low birth weight by 22% and of preterm birth by 16%. The effects are stronger in magnitude for third trimester exposure and for less educated mothers. These findings suggest that the health impacts of air pollution on newborns are unequally distributed in the population.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftHealth Economics
Jahrgang31
Ausgabenummer5
Seiten (von - bis)729-759
Anzahl der Seiten31
ISSN1057-9230
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.05.2022

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
Financial support was received from the Italian Ministry of Health—National Center for Prevention and Diseases Control (Scientific Research Program on “The effect of air pollution on the Italian population. An analysis based on microdata” grant no. E83C17000020001). We are indebted to Vincenzo Atella and the DG Prevention and DG Statistics of the Ministry of Health for their precious support in obtaining birth data. We are also grateful to Joshua Angrist, Erich Battistin, Amithab Chandra, Luca Citino, Claudia Ghisetti, Paolo Pinotti, and Simone Russo for their useful comments. We also thank the participants at the EEA Congress 2019, EALE Conference 2019, AIEL Conference 2019, Research Colloquium at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, IAERE Conference 2016 and 2017, Directorate I‐JRC of the European Commission in Ispra, DISAE Invited Seminar of the University of Naples Parthenope, SKILS Workshop in Engelberg, and Invited Seminar Series—Department of Economics—University of York for helpful comments and discussion. We are the sole responsible for the remaining errors.

Funding Information:
Financial support was received from the Italian Ministry of Health?National Center for Prevention and Diseases Control (Scientific Research Program on ?The effect of air pollution on the Italian population. An analysis based on microdata? grant no. E83C17000020001). We are indebted to Vincenzo Atella and the DG Prevention and DG Statistics of the Ministry of Health for their precious support in obtaining birth data. We are also grateful to Joshua Angrist, Erich Battistin, Amithab Chandra, Luca Citino, Claudia Ghisetti, Paolo Pinotti, and Simone Russo for their useful comments. We also thank the participants at the EEA Congress 2019, EALE Conference 2019, AIEL Conference 2019, Research Colloquium at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, IAERE Conference 2016 and 2017, Directorate I-JRC of the European Commission in Ispra, DISAE Invited Seminar of the University of Naples Parthenope, SKILS Workshop in Engelberg, and Invited Seminar Series?Department of Economics?University of York for helpful comments and discussion. We are the sole responsible for the remaining errors.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

DOI