Short-term impact of PM _2.5 on contemporaneous asthma medication use: Behavior and the value of pollution reductions

Abstract

Asthma ranks among the most costly of chronic diseases, accounting for over $50 billion annually in direct medical expenditures in the United States. At the same time, evidence has accumulated that fine particulate matter pollution can exacerbate asthma symptoms and generate substantial economic costs. To measure these costs, we use a unique nationwide panel dataset tracking asthmatic individuals’ use of rescue medication and their exposure to PM2.5(particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 μm) concentration between 2012 and 2017, to estimate the causal relationship between pollution and inhaler use. Our sample consists of individuals using an asthma digital health platform, which relies on a wireless sensor to track the place and time of inhaler use events, as well as regular nonevent location and time indicators. These data provide an accurate measurement of inhaler use and allow spatially and temporally resolute assignment of pollution exposure. Using a high-frequency research design and individual fixed effects, we find that a 1 μg/m3(12%) increase in weekly exposure to PM2.5increases weekly inhaler use by 0.82%. We also show that there is seasonal, regional, and income-based heterogeneity in this response. Using our response prediction, and an estimate from the literature on the willingness to pay to avoid asthma symptoms, we show that a nationwide 1 μg/m3reduction in particulate matter concentration would generate nearly $350 million annually in economic benefits.

Role of economics in analyzing the environment and sustainable development

“…What are the best ways to apply market and nonmarket valuation methods to translate biophysical indicators into a common monetary metric measuring the welfare contribution of ecosystem services? One promising avenue to valuation links environment to health (66,67). Difficult issues include integrating natural science and economic models to understand how changes in ecosystems lead to changes in the flows of ecosystem services (68,69) and how to measure the value of nonmaterial ecosystem services, such as aesthetics, experience, learning, and mental health (70).…”

“…Use of large datasets with observations that vary across space and time offers an alternative approach to providing credible evidence on the impact of environmental policies when randomized control trials are either impossible or prohibitively expensive. The increase in geographically delineated data through time makes this approach applicable to a wider range of applications (66,67,(93)(94)(95). Integrated assessment models.…”

A Robust Deep Learning Approach for Spatiotemporal Estimation of Satellite AOD and PM2.5

“…Fine particulate matter with a diameter < 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) has been associated with adverse health effects, ranging from acute, short-term to chronic health outcomes [1][2][3], including increased respiratory symptoms [4][5][6], worsened asthma [7,8], increased cardiovascular diseases [9,10], decreased lung function [11], and increased premature death from heart or lung diseases [12,13]. With rapidly increasing fleet of vehicles and more stringent emission regulations for industry than previously [14], concentrations of PM 2.5 have been increasingly more affected by local traffic emissions than coal or It has multiple emission sources, and adverse meteorology and terrain-particle matters come from industrial emissions, coal combustion, and motor vehicle exhaust; in winter, heavy coal emission in heating, low wind speed, and high atmospheric stability aggravate concentrating of particle matters; the Mount Taihang-Yanshan surrounding this region may inhibit dispersion of air pollutants from it.…”

“…Thus, traffic emissions recently have contributed more to PM 2.5 concentrations, probably resulting in high exposure since many persons live near traffic routes [17][18][19]. Accurate estimation of the spatiotemporal distribution of PM 2.5 [20][21][22] at a high resolution can help improve health outcome studies of PM 2.5 [8,23], particularly at a local spatial scale. However, PM 2.5 ground monitoring stations are usually limitedly distributed worldwide, e.g., there were 102 PM 2.5 monitoring stations in 2015 for the large Jing-Jin-Ji metropolitan area of China (64,022 km 2 ).…”

Exploring the Spatial Variation Characteristics and Influencing Factors of PM2.5 Pollution in China: Evidence from 289 Chinese Cities

“…Compared with PM 2.5-10 , PM 2.5 has stronger activity, a smaller particle size, and it is easier to carry these harmful substances deep into the respiratory tract, resulting in a significant increase in the risk of cardiac and pulmonary concerns and other related organs [8]. In addition, PM 2.5 has the ability to be transported over long distances and compared with other particles, remains airborne for a greater length of time [10,11]. Recent research has shown substantial evidence on the damage of PM 2.5 pollution to residents' health in many countries and regions [12][13][14][15][16].Many researchers have been working to explore the causes and diffusion mechanism of PM 2.5 pollution [17][18][19][20].…”