Bui, L. T., Shadbegian, R., Marquez, A., Klemick, H., & Guignet, D. (2022). Does short-term, airborne lead exposure during pregnancy affect birth outcomes? Quasi-experimental evidence from NASCAR’s deleading policy. Environment international, 166, 107354.
Dissertation: Can the social safety net catch lead? Welfare programs as environmental policy.
Nutrition and prenatal lead exposure: Evidence from WIC
Lead remains a public health issue, despite decades of policy limiting its prevalence. At current levels, concerns are largely geared towards at-risk populations. Prenatal exposure poses a unique concern, as lead can cross the placental barrier and deposit in the fetus. Medical evidence suggests that nutrition might play an important role in lead absorption. Access to the social safety net is one avenue through which pregnant individuals receive nutrition and care that might help to insulate them from the effects of lead. I provide the first study to analyze social insurance channels as a moderating force against environmental hazards. Utilizing restricted birth certificate data in North Carolina, I categorize pregnant individuals by (1) exposure to airborne lead emissions and (2) geographic access to WIC clinics. I use a triple differences approach to examine the effects of changes in prenatal lead exposure across residences by proximity to WIC clinics.
Food Security and prenatal lead exposure: Evidence from SNAP
Different nutrition-based social programs may be differentially effective when insulating individuals from exposure to pollution. In addition to evidence that nutrition mitigates lead absorption, there is also evidence that lead absorption is diminished when ingested with food (ASTDR 2020). This begs the question - is it the nutrients that matter or simply the calories? SNAP is a prominent avenue in which families receive access to food security. in a typical year, SNAP serves about 20 million children in the country – approximately one out of every four (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2016). There is a consensus among the SNAP literature that SNAP participation reduces food insecurity and increases total food spending, though results on the effect of program participation on food quality are often null or extremely modest. I combine spatial and temporal variation in geographic access to SNAP authorized retailers with spatial and temporal variation in lead exposure via the openings and closings of lead-emitting Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) facilities. I find that birth outcomes among pregnancies in close proximity to SNAP-authorized retailers are better insulated against shocks to lead exposure, particularly through TRI openings.
Cumulative impacts of early childhood lead exposure and access to SNAP (joint with Dr. Nicholas Sanders)
Chapters 1 and 2 address instantaneous impacts of lead exposure on birth outcomes, and how access to the social safety net can mitigate these effects. We turn to elementary education data to examine the cumulative effect of childhood lead on academic achievement, and the extent to which this may be mitigated by access to public programs such as SNAP.