Air Pollution and Birth Outcomes: Health Impact and Economic Value Assessment in Spain

Marcelle Virginia Canto, Mònica Guxens, Anna García-Altés, Maria José López, Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo, Javier García-Pérez and Rebeca Ramis ()
Additional contact information
Marcelle Virginia Canto: Department of Preventive Medicine, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Mònica Guxens: Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Anna García-Altés: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Maria José López: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Javier García-Pérez: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Rebeca Ramis: Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Air pollution is considered an ongoing major public health and environmental issue around the globe, affecting the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and fetuses. The aim of this study is to estimate the health impact and economic value on birth outcomes, such as low birthweight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), small for gestational age (SGA), attributable to a reduction of PM 10 levels in Spain. Reduction based on four scenarios was implemented: fulfillment of WHO guidelines and EU limits, and an attributable reduction of 15% and 50% in annual PM 10 levels. Retrospective study on 288,229 live-born singleton children born between 2009–2010, using data from Spain Birth Registry Statistics database, as well as mean PM 10 mass concentrations. Our finding showed that a decrease in annual exposure to PM 10 appears to be associated with a decrease in the annual cases of LBW, SGA and PTB, as well as a reduction in hospital cost attributed to been born with LBW. Improving pregnancy outcomes by reducing the number of LBW up to 5% per year, will result in an estimate associated monetary saving of 50,000 to 7,000,000 euros annually. This study agrees with previous literature and highlights the need to implement, and ensure compliance with, stricter policies that regulate the maximum exposure to outdoor PM permitted in Spain, contributing to decreased environmental health risk, especially negative birth outcomes.

Keywords: low birthweight; small for gestational age; preterm birth; particulate matter; air quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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