Air Pollution and Health: Evidence on Exposure and Adaptation

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel sits at the intersection of environmental and health economics, examining causal evidence on the downstream health impacts of air pollution. It focuses on identifying pathways linking pollution exposure to health outcomes, while highlighting the role of behavioral responses and indirect health channels.

This panel fits squarely within the policy area of Natural Resource, Energy, and Environmental Policy. It advances this field by applying quasi-experimental and causal inference methods to a major environmental challenge, air pollution, which has always been central to various regulatory policy debates. By integrating three complementary papers, it offers a comprehensive view of how pollution affects health, how individuals adapt to these risks, and how policy can account for both direct impacts and behavioral responses.

The three papers align closely around this theme yet with their unique contributions. Specifically, Mahta Ghafarianghadim’s paper investigates the causal link between air pollution exposure and Cardiovascular Mortality, by using thermal inversions as an instrumental variable. Maghfira Ramadhani’s paper shifts attention from pollution exposure to behavioral adaptation which might offset pollution’s negative health effects. Using high-frequency individual-level data, it shows that people reduce pollution exposure actively by decreasing physical activity when pollution level rises. Additionally, it provides insights into the extent to which individuals can protect themselves. Finally, Isaiah Bryant-Sheth’s paper goes beyond the direct health pathways, such as biological mechanisms in the air pollution literature. Rather, this paper examines the causal linkage between pollution and mental health, and subsequently, substance use. This research underscores that pollution also shapes health outcomes via behavioral channels, in addition to the biological channels of respiratory or cardiovascular systems.

Collectively, these papers provide two key contributions. First, they offer credible causal evidence on multiple pathways through which pollution affects health, informing more effective policy design. Second, they highlight environmental justice concerns, showing that both exposure and the capacity to mitigate harm are unevenly distributed. These insights are crucial for social welfare analysis and for designing policies that account for both environmental risks and human responses.

Policy Area

• Natural Resource, Energy, and Environmental Policy

Chair

• Maranna Yoder, Indiana University

Discussants

• TENGDA GONG, University of Manitoba

• Joanna Venator, Boston College

Organizer

• Junying Tong, Indiana University

Individual Presentations

• Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Mortality: Evidence from Thermal Inversions in the U.S. - Presenting Author: Mahta Ghafarianghadim, Georgia State University

• Air Pollution and Behavior: Evidence from Wearable Devices - Presenting Author: Maghfira Ramadhani, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Wildfire Smoke and Drug Overdoses - Presenting Author: Isaiah Chapman Bryant Sheth, University of Rochester

• The Smog of War: Pollution Shocks, Cognitive Losses, and the Role of Adaptation - Presenting Author: Yuwei Zhang, University of Houston