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Is There a Link Between Air Pollution and Impaired Memory? Evidence on 34,000 English Citizens

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  • Oswald, Andrew J.

    (Economics and CAGE, University of Warwick)

  • Powdthavee, Nattavudh

    (WBS, University of Warwick)

Abstract

It is known that people feel less happy in areas with higher levels of nitrogen dioxide NO2 (MacKerron and Mourato, 2009). What else might air pollution do to human wellbeing? This paper uses data on a standardized word-recall test that was done in the year 2011 by 34,000 randomly sampled English citizens across 318 geographical areas. We find that human memory is worse in areas where NO2 and PM10 levels are greater. The paper provides both (i) OLS results and (ii) instrumental-variable estimates that exploit the direction of the prevailing westerly wind and levels of population density. Although caution is always advisable on causal interpretation, these results are concerning and are consistent with laboratory studies of rats and other non-human animals. Our estimates suggest that the difference in memory quality between England’s cleanest and most-polluted areas is equivalent to the loss of memory from 10 extra years of ageing

Suggested Citation

  • Oswald, Andrew J. & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2019. "Is There a Link Between Air Pollution and Impaired Memory? Evidence on 34,000 English Citizens," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1228, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wrk:warwec:1228
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    1. Is There a Link Between Air Pollution and Impaired Memory? Evidence on 34,000 English Citizens
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2019-11-28 12:43:59

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    Cited by:

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    3. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2022. "Green mobility and well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    4. Ai, Hongshan & Wang, Mengyuan & Zhang, Yue-Jun & Zhu, Tian-Tian, 2022. "How does air pollution affect urban innovation capability? Evidence from 281 cities in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 166-178.
    5. Bellani, Luna & Ceolotto, Stefano & Elsner, Benjamin & Pestel, Nico, 2021. "Air Pollution Affects Decision-Making: Evidence from the Ballot Box," IZA Discussion Papers 14718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Yongliang Yang & Jing Fang & Wen Wang & Yan Li & Yi Li, 2021. "The Impact of Air Quality on Effective Labor Supply: Based on the Survey Data of Zhejiang Province in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, April.
    7. Han, Ahram & Ten, Gi Khan & Wang, Shun, 2023. "Gray skies and blue moms: The effect of air pollution on parental life satisfaction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Memory ; NO2 ; PM10 ; air ; pollution ; particulates;
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