Award Abstract # 1756738
Prenatal Air Pollution Exposures and Early Childhood Outcomes

NSF Org: SES
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Recipient: TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE
Initial Amendment Date: July 20, 2018
Latest Amendment Date: September 12, 2023
Award Number: 1756738
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Joseph Whitmeyer
jwhitmey@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7808
SES
 Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE
 Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Start Date: October 1, 2018
End Date: March 31, 2024 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $319,999.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $319,999.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2018 = $319,999.00
History of Investigator:
  • Emily Hannum (Principal Investigator)
    hannumem@sas.upenn.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Pennsylvania
3451 WALNUT ST STE 440A
PHILADELPHIA
PA  US  19104-6205
(215)898-7293
Sponsor Congressional District: 03
Primary Place of Performance: The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
McNeil Building
Philadelphia
PA  US  19104-6209
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
03
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): GM1XX56LEP58
Parent UEI: GM1XX56LEP58
NSF Program(s): Sociology
Primary Program Source: 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9179
Program Element Code(s): 133100
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.075

ABSTRACT

This study investigates impacts of air pollution exposure on birth outcomes and early child development outcomes, with attention to gender and socioeconomic disparities in risk as well as potential exacerbating or compensating impacts of family resources and processes. The prenatal and early childhood periods are extremely vulnerable phases of life, but the implications of early, high levels of air pollution for children's development, and how they are affected by social and economic context, are poorly understood. Data come from birth certificates, hospital records, and a prospective birth cohort survey in a high air pollution context. Findings will offer insights into the rising global public health challenges associated with air pollution exposures among infants and children. Further, findings regarding the differential risks and impacts of exposure across gender and socioeconomic groups, and about effectiveness of avoidance behaviors and compensatory investments, can inform policymakers and clinicians about the design and targeting of interventions and thereby contribute to the general well-being of society.

This study investigates risks associated with prenatal air pollution exposure for birth outcomes and multiple early child development dimensions, including physical, cognitive, language, self-regulation, and social and emotional domains, in a region with high but spatially variable air pollution levels. The project has four objectives: 1: Produce three complementary datasets on air pollution and birth and early childhood outcomes. 2: Estimate associations between air pollution exposures and birth outcomes. 3: Investigate potential differences in vulnerability to and impact of environmental exposure by gender and socioeconomic status using birth certificate data and sample survey data. 4: Estimate impacts of air quality on children's early human capital development within a larger framework of parental investments in children and avoidance behaviors, using sample survey data. The project links a) administrative data from birth certificate databases and hospital records, b) pollution exposure estimates derived from data-fusion methods combining monitoring observations, remotely-sensed satellite imagery, land-use variables, and meteorology, and c) a prospective sample survey of early health and development outcomes. Analyses estimate impacts of air quality on children?s human capital within a larger framework of parental investments in children. The study considers cumulative risks, nonlinearities, and threshold effects of air pollution exposures, and models interactions with other risk and protective factors with a focus on sociological factors related to child gender and socioeconomic status and parenting styles.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Liu, Xiaoying and Behrman, Jere and Hannum, Emily and Wang, Fan and Zhao, Qingguo "Same environment, stratified impacts? Air pollution, extreme temperatures, and birth weight in South China" Social Science Research , v.105 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102691 Citation Details
Liu, Xiaoying and Miao, Huazhang and Behrman, Jere R. and Hannum, Emily and Liang, Zhijiang and Zhao, Qingguo "The Asian Games, air pollution and birth outcomes in South China: An instrumental variable approach" Economics & Human Biology , v.44 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2021.101078 Citation Details
Wu_, Xiaogang and Li_, Xin and Miao_, Jia "Early Childhood Development and Social Mobility in China" ECNU Review of Education , v.7 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311241240479 Citation Details

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Motivation. High levels of air pollution and rising temperatures pose particular risks to birth outcomes and child development. This study investigates exposures and impacts of air pollution and extreme heat exposures in the earliest stages of the life course in China, home to 250 million children ages 0 to 14 as of the 2020 census.

Objectives. Specifically, the project has four objectives: 1. Produce complementary datasets on environmental exposures and birth and early childhood outcomes. 2. Estimate associations between these environmental exposures and birth outcomes. 3. Investigate potential differences in vulnerability to and impact of environmental exposure. 4. Estimate impacts of these exposures on children’s early human capital development.

Data. We analyzed birth certificate data linked to air pollution and heat data. We also developed methods to generate indices of exposure inequality that draw on publicly available population data, linked to air pollution and heat data. We collected a single-city early childhood cohort survey, allowing for linking of location histories to environmental exposures.

Key findings. We published two peer-reviewed papers on birth outcomes (in Economics and Human Biology and Social Science Research) in south China. Key findings suggest that air pollution and extreme heat have deleterious impacts on birthweight, but impacts are 1) mitigated among babies of highly educated mothers, especially in the context of extreme ambient conditions, and 2) exacerbated among infants with unobserved physical vulnerabilities.  

In the same region, we show in a working paper that there are substantial differences across population groups defined by education and migration status in air pollution exposures, with some evidence that highly educated migrant populations experienced excess air pollution burden relative to population share. 

Nationally, we also show that extreme ambient heat exposure is rising among children.  Linking census data to temperature data, we found substantial, heterogeneous increases in the share of children at risk of and time exposed to heat stress. From 1990 to 2020, there was an increase of 238 hours in children's average annual exposure to moderate or stronger heat stress. The share of children subjected to over 18 weeks per year of such heat stress more than doubled, increasing from 6.7% to 13.7%.  We also found that approximately half of the overall change in child high-heat exposure was driven by heat increases, with the rest driven by shifts in the child population across locations.  Importantly, shifts in the spatial distribution of the child population, in addition to temperature changes, may be important drivers of children's changing heat-exposure risk over time.

Ongoing work using new, purpose-collected survey data from one city is analyzing impacts of environmental exposures intersect with socioeconomic inequalities and gender inequalities in impacting carefully measured developmental outcomes for children.

Scientific merit. This effort is contributing to social scientific understanding of how two globally-significant environmental hazards—air pollution and extreme temperatures--work in concert with patterns of social and economic inequality to shape children’s outcomes. 

Broader impacts. The project is also developing easy-to-use tools to analyze children’s evolving exposure risks across geographies and over time, which is likely to be useful information for the broader policy community interested in children’s welfare.

 

 

 


Last Modified: 07/24/2024
Modified by: Emily C Hannum

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