Toxic test scores: The impact of chemical releases on standardized test performance within U.S. schools

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of exposure to toxic chemicals, and individual airborne metals in particular, in early childhood on school-level standardized test performance a decade later. The analysis links the cohort-level proficiency of primary school students born in the United States in the early 2000s to Toxics Release Inventory exposure, exploiting variation in the timing and magnitude of toxicity risk within public school catchment areas to estimate the impact of early exposure on educational outcomes. Estimates of airborne toxicity, which account for composition, may better correspond to human health risks from air pollution than total fine particulates. One standard deviation higher aggregate airborne toxicity in the catchment area during the year in which most students were born causes cohorts to perform 0.016 standard deviations worse on statewide tests. Finally, airborne chromium is identified as a driver of this effect: a ten percent change in ambient chromium concentrations during the first year of life causes a decrease in standardized test proficiency of 0.01 standard deviations.