The Hidden Cost of Pollen: Empirical Analysis of the Association Between Pollen Exposure and Mental Health

Mamiko Kishida and Akira Hibiki

No 87, TUPD Discussion Papers from Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University

Abstract: This study examines the association between pollen exposure and monthly suicide mortality in Japan. It combines prefecture-level daily pollen counts with monthly suicide mortality data for 2009-2020 and estimates panel models with prefecture and year-by-month fixed effects. The estimates indicate that additional high-pollen days are positively associated with overall suicide mortality. The association is statistically significant in several specifications for women, although the female-specific estimates are sensitive to model specification and the difference between women and men is not directly tested. Results from the pollen-season sample support the main overall association. Because the estimated relationship is not monotonic across pollen categories and the age-specific analysis entails multiple testing, the heterogeneity and mechanism results should be viewed as exploratory.

Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2026-08
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https://hdl.handle.net/10097/0002008487

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:toh:tupdaa:87

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