Invisible Enemy: The Health Impact of Ozone

47 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2022 Last revised: 6 Feb 2022

See all articles by Dongmin Kong

Dongmin Kong

School of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Junwei Liang

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

Chenhao Liu

Peking University - Guanghua School of Management

Date Written: January 14, 2022

Abstract

China has exerted great efforts in the past decades to fight against particulate matters and has achieved initial results, but ozone pollution has increased significantly. Using a unique diagnostic data of a peninsula city in China, this study evaluates the health effect of ozone pollution on emergency room admission and medical expenditure. We present strong evidence that ozone has a significant negative impact on health. Specifically, one standard deviation increase in ozone pollution will result in an additional 2.51, 1.73, and 2.98 weekly emergency room admissions in respiratory, ophthalmology, and internal medicine. Our analysis of medical expenditure implies that one standard deviation increase of ozone pollution generates a 5.97 million yuan increase of annual medical expenditure for a representative city. We further show that land wind, sunny weather, and dense roads significantly moderate the adverse health effects of ozone. Our findings offer a timely reminder for policymakers to pay attention to “invisible” ozone pollution while managing particulate pollution.

Keywords: Air pollution, Health, Ozone, China, Diagnostic data

JEL Classification: Q53, Q56, I12, O13.

Suggested Citation

Kong, Dongmin and Liang, Junwei and Liu, Chenhao, Invisible Enemy: The Health Impact of Ozone (January 14, 2022). China Economic Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4008775 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4008775

Dongmin Kong (Contact Author)

School of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology ( email )

Bldg. of Econ. School, Louyu Rd. 1037#
HUST, Hongshan Dist.
Wuhan, Hubei 430074
China

Junwei Liang

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies ( email )

Collaborative Innovation Center for Silk Road
Guangzhou, Guangdong
China

Chenhao Liu

Peking University - Guanghua School of Management ( email )

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