Environmental disclosure programs and birth weight: a meta-analysis

Environmental information disclosure programs are regulatory tools designed to reduce toxic emissions from polluting sites. These programs provide information on the most polluting sites and the type and quantity of their emissions, with the aim of protecting the environment and public health. Disclosed information is disseminated online through these programs' websites, and hence access to the internet is required in order to access this information. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the most well-known international environmental information disclosure programs, namely TRI, E-PRTR, NPI, PROPER, EcoWatch, Greenwatch, NPRI, MVR, and AKOBEN. We compared the risk of low birth weight (LBW) before and after implementing these programs. We also considered the levels of internet accessibility in each country in which we evaluated the effectiveness of these programs. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs. We considered studies on the most well-known international environmental information disclosure programs and compared the risk of LBW before and after implementing these programs and also conducted a meta-regression to evaluate the factors influencing LBW risk. Our analysis shows that in countries where these programs were in place, the risk of LBW had decreased for most programs except for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) and the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR), which had the opposite effect. The meta-regression results showed that maternal age and gestational duration significantly influence birth weight, with older mothers having a reduced risk of giving birth to LBW infants. Length of gestation is associated with decreased risk of LBW. Maternal education was negatively associated with birth weight, with mothers with higher education levels having an increased risk of giving birth to LBW infants. Time also showed a significant negative relationship with the incidence of LBW. Finally, a significant positive interaction was observed between the "program" and "internet" variables, suggesting that environmental disclosure may not reach certain vulnerable populations and that the presentation of information may play an important role in the effectiveness of these programs.