Lead Exposure and Cognitive Skills in a Developing Country: Evidence from Toxic Sites in Indonesia

Emilie Berkhout (), Sandy Maulana (), Rhea Molato-Gayares (), Albert Park () and Daniel Suryadarma ()
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Emilie Berkhout: Youth Impact
Sandy Maulana: Asian Development Bank Institute
Rhea Molato-Gayares: Asian Development Bank
Albert Park: Asian Development Bank
Daniel Suryadarma: Asian Development Bank Institute

No 774, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: We provide causal evidence from a developing country context that children exposed to lead at a young age exhibit worse cognitive outcomes. We exploit variation in exposure to leadcontaminated toxic sites in Indonesia and estimate a two-way fixed effects model using variation in age at first exposure and variation in distance to the site. We find that children who were exposed in utero or up to 6 years old scored -0.48 s.d. lower in a test of numeracy and -0.36 s.d. lower in a test of general cognitive ability if they lived within 3 kilometers of the toxic site compared with those who lived beyond 6 kilometers. Confirming that the impact of lead exposure depends on distance, we find that the impact is halved for children who lived 3–6 kilometers from the site and were exposed before 7 years old. The learning penalty in numeracy is equivalent to about 3 years of primary schooling in Indonesia for those who lived within 3 kilometers and 1.4 years for those who lived 3–6 kilometers from the toxic site. The effect size indicates the need to prevent lead exposure, especially at younger ages.

Keywords: pollution; hazardous waste; skills; human capital; learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J24 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2025-04-08
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