The negative consequences of long-term exposure to particulate pollution are well established but a number of studies find no effect of short-term exposure on health outcomes. The high correlation of industrial pollutants complicates the estimation of the impact of individual pollutants on health. In this study, we use emissions from Kīlauea volcano, which are uncorrelated with other pollution sources, to estimate the impact of pollutants on local emergency room admissions and a precise measure of costs. A one standard deviation increase in particulates leads to a 23–36% increase in expenditures on ER visits for pulmonary outcomes, mostly among the very young.
Authors
Research Fellow University College London
Áureo is an applied econometrician with strong interests in both methodological and empirical questions, affiliated with UCL, Cemmap, IFS and CEPR.
Timothy J Halliday
John Lynham
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1111/ecoj.12609
- Publisher
- The Economic Journal
- Issue
- Volume 129, Issue 620, July 2018, pages 1782-1816
Suggested citation
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