The Impact of Air Pollution on Population Child Respiratory Incidence in Catalonia

Abstract: 

This paper estimates the causal effect of air pollution on children’s respiratory health. Therefore, we link individual-level administrative healthcare records from primary care and emergency room visits with pollution monitor data and weather data in Catalonia (Spain) during 2013-2017. Spatio-temporal kriging techniques are used to correct misalignment and complete time-by-location data on the pollution, pollen, and weather variables. We instrument for air pollution using the number of moderate direction-specific wind gusts and Saharan dust and fog advection. We compare the health effects of exposure to different air pollutants (CO, PM10, SO2 and NOx). Exposure to particulate matter (PM10) yields the most significant adverse health effects, followed by CO and SO2. Our IV estimates suggest that an increase of 1 µg/m3 or 4.5% in PM10 increases children’s overall respiratory health problems by 2.0%. This effect is entirely driven by lower respiratory illnesses (an increase of 2.4%), which have potentially more deleterious health effects.

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