Harvard study links exposure to air pollution in infancy to reduced earnings in adulthood

A recent study by Harvard and the European University of Rome has uncovered a striking connection between early-life exposure to air pollution and economic outcomes in adulthood. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research highlights how infants exposed to higher levels of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) are likely to earn less as adults, with the most significant impacts observed in the Midwest and South of the United States.

“This study takes a big step toward filling the knowledge gap on the crucial link between environmental factors and long-term economic outcomes,” said Francesca Dominici, lead author and professor at Harvard. The findings underscore how environmental pollution, particularly air quality, plays a significant role in shaping not just public health but economic mobility and well-being later in life.

Key findings

The study focused on US individuals born between 1978 and 1983, analysing their PM2.5 exposure from 1980 to 2010, and compared it to their earnings in 2014-2015 when they were between 31 and 37 years old. The results were telling: a one-unit increase in PM2.5 exposure was associated with a 1.146% decrease in economic earnings, measured using a statistic called Absolute Upward Mobility (AUM).

The data revealed that this impact was not uniform across the country. Midwestern and Southern regions saw the highest negative effects, suggesting regional disparities in both air quality and its long-term economic impacts.

Call for action

The authors argue that these findings should encourage the creation of stringent national air quality standards, as well as targeted interventions to address pollution in highly affected regions. Luca Merlo, co-lead author, emphasised the importance of addressing both environmental and economic inequalities through integrated policies.

This research builds on growing evidence of the far-reaching consequences of air pollution, further solidifying the argument that improving air quality is not only vital for public health but also for fostering economic growth and opportunity.