Chinese Yellow Dust and Korean infant health

Abstract

Naturally-occurring Yellow Dust outbreaks, which are produced by winds flowing to Korea from China and Mongolia, create air pollution. Although there is a seasonal pattern of this phenomenon, there exists substantial variation in its timing, strength, and location from year to year. To warn residents about air pollution in general, and about these dust storms in particular, Korean authorities issue different types of public alerts. Using birth certificate data on more than 1.5 million babies born between 2003 and 2011, we investigate the impact of air pollution, and the avoidance behavior triggered by pollution alerts on various birth outcomes. We show that air pollution rises during Yellow Dust outbreaks and that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy has a significant negative impact on birth weight, the gestation weeks of the baby, and the propensity of the baby being born low weight. Public alerts about air quality during pregnancy help mitigate the adverse effect of pollution on fetal health. The results provide evidence for the effectiveness of pollution alert systems in promoting public health. They also underline the importance of taking into account individuals' avoidance behavior when estimating the impact of air quality on birth outcomes. We show that when the preventive effect of public health warnings is not accounted for, the estimated relationship between air pollution and infant health is reduced by more than fifty percent. In summary, air pollution has a deteriorating impact on newborns' health, and public alerts that warn individuals about increased air pollution help alleviate the negative impact.

Health Effects of Asian Dust: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Studies examining hospital admissions/visits listed multiple diseases and conditions as the cause (Table 2). Fourteen studies used a time-series design, 13 used a case-crossover design, 11 simply compared the number of deaths between dust days and control days, 4 used spatiotemporal modeling (Chien et al 2012(Chien et al , 2014Yu et al 2012Yu et al , 2013, 2 used seasonal periodicity analysis and/or linear regression (Altindag et al 2017;Wang et al 2016), and 1 used correlation analysis (Wang et al 2018). In terms of exposure definition, 20 studies used a local meteorological authority's definition of Asian dust, and 17 studies set their own definition using PM of a certain diameter, with or without other indicators such as wind profile or LIDAR.…”

Real-time information on air pollution and avoidance behavior: evidence from South Korea

“…A number of previous studies have used air pollution forecasts to identify avoidance behavior (Neidell 2009;Janke 2014;Altindag et al 2017). In this study, however, forecasts can be a confounding factor that affects the estimation of the impact of realtime information.…”

“…Previous studies investigated the relationship between information on levels of air pollution and changes in outdoor activities. Neidell ( 2009 ), Janke ( 2014 ), and Altindag et al ( 2017 ) reported that information about air pollution such as smog alerts led people to reduce their outdoor activities, reducing the adverse health effects of air pollution. 3 The scope of those studies was more comprehensive than what this study addresses in that they focused not only on the existence of avoidance behavior but also on the health effects.…”

“…Thus, the information provided typically includes behavioral guidelines to explain the actions the public should take in response to elevated levels of air pollution. A number of studies have shown that providing information on air pollution, such as forecasts, prompts avoidance behavior (Neidell 2009;Graff Zivin and Neidell 2009;Janke 2014;Altindag et al 2017).…”

Seasonal and monthly variation in peak expiratory flow rate in children with asthma

“…South Korea could experience intense dust storms during spring when the peak level of particulate matter (PM) concentration is affected by dusts originating from China and Mongolia [ 13 ]. Yellow dust or Asian dust generally occurs from March to May [ 14 ]. The seasonal average levels of PM with a diameter <10 μm (PM 10 ) and total suspended particles in Korea are the highest during spring [ 15 16 ].…”