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Early Childhood Lead Exposure and the Persistence of Educational Consequences into Adolescence

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  • Shadbegian, Ron
  • Guignet, Dennis
  • Klemick, Heather
  • Bui, Linda

Abstract

There is consensus that early childhood lead exposure causes adverse cognitive and behavioral effects, even at blood lead levels (BLL) below 5 µg/dL. What has not been established is to what extent the effects of childhood lead exposure persist across grades. In this paper, we examine data from 538,493 children living in North Carolina between 2000-2012 with a BLL ≤ 10 µg/dL to estimate the effects of early childhood lead exposure on educational performance from grades 3-8, to determine if effects in lower grades persist as a child progresses through adolescence. We estimate fixed-effects models and use socio-economic and demographic information along with coarsened exact matching techniques to control for confounding effects to identify the causal effect of BLL on test performance. We find that the effects of early childhood exposure to low lead levels caused persistent deficits in educational performance across grades. In each grade (3-8), children with higher blood lead levels had, on average, lower percentile scores in both math and reading than children with lower blood lead levels. In our primary model, we find that children with BLL= 5 µg/dL in early childhood ranked 1.50 – 2.07 (1.94 – 2.43) percentiles lower than children with BLL ≤ 1 µg/dL on math (reading) tests during grades 3-8. As children progressed through school, the average percentile deficit in their test scores remained stable.

Suggested Citation

  • Shadbegian, Ron & Guignet, Dennis & Klemick, Heather & Bui, Linda, 2019. "Early Childhood Lead Exposure and the Persistence of Educational Consequences into Adolescence," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 312241, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:nceewp:312241
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.312241
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lex Borghans & Bart Golsteyn & James J. Heckman & John Eric Humphries, 2016. "What Grades and Achievement Tests Measure," Working Papers 2016-022, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Stephen B. Billings & Kevin T. Schnepel, 2018. "Life after Lead: Effects of Early Interventions for Children Exposed to Lead," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 315-344, July.
    3. Anna Aizer & Janet Currie & Peter Simon & Patrick Vivier, 2018. "Do Low Levels of Blood Lead Reduce Children's Future Test Scores?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 307-341, January.
    4. Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, 2015. "Lead Exposure And Behavior: Effects On Antisocial And Risky Behavior Among Children And Adolescents," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(3), pages 1580-1605, July.
    5. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Heather Klemick & Ann Wolverton & Bryan Parthum & Kristin Epstein & Sandra Kutzing & Sarah Armstrong, 2024. "Factors Influencing Customer Participation in a Program to Replace Lead Pipes for Drinking Water," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(3), pages 791-832, March.
    2. H Spencer Banzhaf & Melissa Ruby Banzhaf, 2023. "Impact of in utero airborne lead exposure on long-run adult socio-economic outcomes: A population analysis using U.S. survey and administrative data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(11), pages 1-26, November.
    3. Dennis Guignet & Christoph Nolte, 2021. "Hazardous Waste and Home Values: An Analysis of Treatment and Disposal Sites in the U.S," Working Papers 21-07, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Economics and Policy;

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

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