Jornal da Poluição

The Effect of Environmental Pollution on Life Expectancy in the U.S

Abstract

Shivam Jha*

This paper studies the effect of environmental pollution on life expectancy across US counties. Controlling for the effect of
socioeconomic factors such as income and smoking habits. I find that air pollution shortens life expectancy by approximately one year for every
extra ten micro grams of fine particulate matters (PM2.5) per cubic meter of air, and chemical disposal shortens life expectancy by about 1
month for each standard deviation increase in pounds of chemicals disposed. The effects are stronger on males compared to females.