SO2 and NOx emissions and childhood asthma in the United States: A state-level analysis

Background. The effects of Power Plants' emission reduction on childhood asthma prevalence in the United Stated have not been studied at the state-level. And policy makers are interested to learn whether different pollutant emission standards contribute to geographical differences of child asthma rates across the 50 states.;Objective. To introduce an economic approach to estimate the correlation between SO2 and NOx emissions and childhood asthma prevalence rate at the state-level.;Methods. Asthma data were pooled from the National Children's Health Survey (NCHS, 2007 & 2011), a national representative sample of youth under 18 years of age. Emission data for each state were obtained from Environmental Protection Act's (EPA) online data portal, and state-level children's population by race is provided by the KID COUNT data center. Control variables include poverty, health insurance coverage, race and children's mental health.;Findings. Although the state-level results suggest that the correlation between SO2 and NOx emissions and childhood asthma likelihood is not clear, the analyses show that the indoor air quality negatively associates with the asthma likelihood. Based on the findings, the policymakers should refer to individual-level study results when defending air regulations, and should continue prevent in-house smoking for children's health.