Reexamining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality
利用1900-1940年25个美国主要城市的数据，研究了污水处理、牛奶细菌标准、水过滤和氯消毒等公共卫生干预措施对死亡率的影响，发现只有水过滤与婴儿死亡率下降11-12%相关。
Using data on 25 major American cities for the period 1900–1940, we explore the effects of municipal-level public health efforts that were viewed as critical in the fight against foodborne and waterborne diseases. In addition to studying interventions such as treating sewage and setting bacteriological standards for milk, which have received little attention, we provide new evidence on the effects of water filtration and chlorination, extending the work of previous scholars. Although water filtration is associated with an 11–12 percent reduction in infant mortality, none of the other interventions under study appear to have contributed to the observed mortality declines.