Lead in Drinking Water and Birth Outcomes: A Tale of Two Water Treatment Plants

Dhaval Dave and Muzhe Yang

No 27996, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The recent lead-in-water crisis in Newark has renewed concerns about the crisis being a widespread problem in the nation. Using data on the exact home addresses of pregnant women residing in the city combined with information on the spatial boundary separating areas within the city serviced by two water treatment plants, we exploit an exogenous change in water chemistry that resulted in lead leaching into the tap water of one plant's service area, but not the other's, to identify a causal effect of prenatal lead exposure on fetal health. We find robust evidence of adverse health impacts, which has important policy implications in light of the substantial number of lead water pipes that remain in use as part of our aging infrastructure and the cost-benefit calculus of lead abatement interventions.

JEL-codes: H75 I12 I18 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Note: CH EEE EH PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Dhaval M. Dave & Muzhe Yang, 2022. "Lead in Drinking Water and Birth Outcomes: A Tale of Two Water Treatment Plants," Journal of Health Economics, .

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