Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Ambient air pollution is an important environmental exposure, and children are especially vulnerable to its neurotoxic effects. Prior studies have associated early childhood exposures to air pollution with poor performances in cognitive and academic tests. No existing study has tested such associations on a nationwide level. We hypothesize that higher ambient air pollution concentrations in a Geographic Schol District (GSD) in the year prior to the state testing window will be associated with lower average academic test scores at the district level. METHODS: We investigate three prevalent ambient air pollutants: PM2.5, NO2 and ozone, and their association with the academic test scores of all students in grades 3 to 8 in the United States at the GSD level from 2010 to 2016. We applied multivariate linear regression and controlled for urbanicity, socioeconomic status, student racial compositions, GSD-grade fixed effects and year fixed effects. The two-way fixed effects model resembles a generalized difference-in-difference approach in a panel data setting. The results can be interpreted causally if certain assumptions are met. RESULTS:We found that a 1 μg/m3 increase in ambient PM2.5 was associated with a 0.00246 standard deviation (95% CI: 0.00173, 0.00320) lower average Math test score. Similar associations were found for NO2 (0.00049 per ppb, 95% CI: 0.00020, 0.00079) and ozone (0.00146 per ppm, 95% CI: 0.00111, 0.00180). For English language/arts (ELA), a 1 μg/m3 (ppb) increase in ambient PM2.5 (0.00141, 95% CI: 0.00083, 0.00199) and NO2 (0.00161, 95% CI: 0.00138, 0.00185) were associated with lower average test scores. The reductions in both Math and ELA test scores were larger for GSDs with higher socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS:Our results show that ambient air pollution is associate with lower academic performances among children. Further improving air quality may benefit children’s academic achievements and career in the long run. KEYWORDS: Air pollution, Neurodevelopmental outcomes, Oxides of nitrogen, Ozone, Particulate matter
Published Version
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