Working Paper: NBER ID: w31567
Authors: Richard DiSalvo; Elaine L. Hill
Abstract: 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%.
Keywords: drinking water; contamination; birth outcomes
JEL Codes: I1; Q53
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| drinking water contamination (Q25) | low birth weight (LBW) (J13) |
| drinking water contamination (Q25) | preterm birth (PTB) (J13) |
| drinking water contamination (using reproductive-specific index) (Q25) | low birth weight (LBW) (J13) |
| drinking water contamination (using reproductive-specific index) (Q25) | preterm birth (PTB) (J13) |
| drinking water contamination (Q25) | fertility rates (J13) |