Drinking Water Contaminant Concentrations and Birth Outcomes /
DiSalvo, Richard.
Drinking Water Contaminant Concentrations and Birth Outcomes / Richard DiSalvo, Elaine L. Hill. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w31567 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w31567. .
August 2023.
Previous research in the US has found negative health effects of contamination when it triggers regulatory violations. An important question is whether levels of contamination that do not trigger a health-based violation impact health. We study the impact of drinking water contamination in community water systems on birth outcomes using drinking water sampling results data in Pennsylvania. We create an overall water quality index and an index specific to reproductive health. We focus on the effects of water contamination for births not exposed to regulatory violations. Our most rigorous specification employs mother fixed effects and finds changing from the 10th to the 90th percentile of water contamination (among births not exposed to regulatory violations) increases low birth weight by 12% and preterm birth by 17%.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Health
Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Noise • Hazardous Waste • Solid Waste • Recycling
Drinking Water Contaminant Concentrations and Birth Outcomes / Richard DiSalvo, Elaine L. Hill. - Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023. - 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white); - NBER working paper series no. w31567 . - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w31567. .
August 2023.
Previous research in the US has found negative health effects of contamination when it triggers regulatory violations. An important question is whether levels of contamination that do not trigger a health-based violation impact health. We study the impact of drinking water contamination in community water systems on birth outcomes using drinking water sampling results data in Pennsylvania. We create an overall water quality index and an index specific to reproductive health. We focus on the effects of water contamination for births not exposed to regulatory violations. Our most rigorous specification employs mother fixed effects and finds changing from the 10th to the 90th percentile of water contamination (among births not exposed to regulatory violations) increases low birth weight by 12% and preterm birth by 17%.
System requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Health
Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Noise • Hazardous Waste • Solid Waste • Recycling