Effect of PM 2.5 Exposure at the Conception and at the Birth on Child Mortality: Evidence from Asian Countries

Currently, the most air-polluted areas in the world are in Asia and Africa. Although there are reports that air pollution affects human health, these data are obtained from developed countries and data from developing countries are limited. Extrapolating the data obtained from developed countries to estimate the effect of air population on health in developing countries remains a challenge owing to the differences in the other environment such as sanitation and access to health services. A central and policy relevant question is whether the timing to exposure matter and how much it mattters. In this study, we examined the effect of the exposure to particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), a fine inhalable particle with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller at conception year, on infant mortality using the multiple-waves of the demographic and health survey data and PM2.5 data in Asian countries. Combining multiple waves from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) through global positioning system (GPS) information of each cluster, we constructed a cluster-level panel data of child mortality. We mapped satellite-based PM2.5 data to the constructed panel data through the GPS information of both cluster data and PM2.5 data. We found that a 10 microgram increase in PM2.5 in the conception year is associated with a 16% increase in infant mortality, and its effect is statistically significant. Meanwhile, the PM2.5 at birth year does not affect the infant mortality. Our estimation results are robust with various specification checks.