The contemporaneous healthcare cost of particulate matter pollution for youth and older adult populations

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of particulate matter pollutants, measured by $PM10$ levels, on public healthcare costs for youth and older adult populations using administrative data from two large UK hospitals and exploiting spatial and temporal variation in $PM10$ levels. We find that patient enrolment increases when their neighborhood experiences higher levels of $PM10$. Specifically, a standard deviation increase in $PM10$ levels increases the enrolment of patients aged 60 years and older by 6.2% and the enrolment of patients under 18 years of age by 3.1%. Using detailed costing information, we estimate that a standard deviation increase in $PM10$ increases public healthcare costs by $\pounds 873,985.20$ per year in the municipality studied.