"Air quality improvements contribute to declining suicide rates in China"
Tamma Carleton
Assistant Professor of Economics
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Abstract: Emerging evidence on environmental determinants of brain function suggests that environmental conditions may play a role in declining suicide rates across the globe. Here we investigate whether air quality improvements contribute to falling suicide rates in China. We use county-level suicide and air pollution data in a statistical model that isolates random variation in particulate matter (PM2.5) driven by thermal inversions. We find that a one standard deviation decrease in PM2.5 lowers weekly suicide rates by ~25%. This effect occurs without delay, consistent with neurobiological evidence that PM influences emotional regulation and impulsive-aggressive behavior. Effects are sex- and age-specific; women over 65 exhibit significantly higher vulnerability. We estimate that PM2.5 reductions under China's Air Pollution Action Plan avoided ~46,000 suicides during 2013-2017, accounting for ~10% of this period's suicide rate decline. Our findings establish a causal link between PM2.5 and suicide, adding urgency to calls for pollution control policies across the globe.
Zoom Recording ID: 94428117948
UUID: UoAfyXbqR/O4IErb/oTuRg==
Meeting Time: 2023-10-13 03:09:23pmGMT
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