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Title: Lead, Mortality, and Productivity

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2008

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Abstract: In the second half of the nineteenth century, some American cities adopted lead service pipes forwater delivery to homes. For some cities, this decision would have enduring negativeconsequences. Cities unlucky enough to have acidic or soft water, both of which contribute tohigh rates of lead leaching, experienced elevated infant and non-infant mortality. Using paneldata for 1900-1920, we show that in 1900, the first year for which systematic data is available,cities with lead pipes and water in the top quartiles of acidity or softness experienced infantmortality that was 12 to 23 percent higher than other cities and non-infant mortality that was 8 to20 percent higher. For a variety of reasons, these differences were close to zero by 1919. Usingcity-level panel data on value added in manufacturing for 1899-1914, we show that in 1899,controlling for the number of workers and the value of capital, these cities also had value addedthat was 9-16 percent lower. The effects were close to zero by 1914. This is consistent with leadhaving had negative health affects for working adults in these cities at the turn of the twentiethcentury.

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Authors: Clay, Karen; Troesken, Werner; Haines, Michael

Publisher: Carnegie Mellon University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Health

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