The contemporaneous healthcare cost of particulate matter pollution for youth and older adult populations

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of particulate matter pollutants, measured by PM10 levels, on public healthcare costs for youth and older adult populations using administrative data from two large UK hospitals and exploiting spatial and temporal variation in PM10 levels. We find that patient enrolment increases when their neighborhood experiences higher levels of PM10. Specifically, a standard deviation increase in PM10 levels increases the enrolment of patients aged 60 years and older by 6.2% and the enrolment of patients under 18 years of age by 3.1%. Using detailed costing information, we estimate that a standard deviation increase in PM10 increases public healthcare costs by £873,985.20 per year in the municipality studied.