Fetal Exposures to Toxic Releases and Infant Health
利用有毒物质排放清单和生命统计数据，发现产前接触有毒化学物质会显著缩短孕期、降低出生体重，并增加婴儿死亡风险；90年代几种化学物质排放减少可解释约3.9%的婴儿死亡率下降。
Every year, millions of pounds of toxic chemicals thought to be linked to developmental problems in fetuses and young children are released into the air. In this paper we estimate the effect of these releases on the health of newborns. Using data from the Toxic Release Inventory Program and Vital Statistics Natality and Mortality files, we find significant negative effects of prenatal exposure to toxicants on gestation and birth weight. We also find that several developmental chemicals increase the probability of infant death. The effect is quite sizeable: the reported reductions in cadmium, toluene, and epichlorohydrin releases during the 90s could account for about 3.9 percent of the overall decrease in infant mortality. Our results are robust to several specification checks, such as comparing developmental to non-developmental chemicals, and fugitive air releases to stack air releases.