Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
World Bank, Washington, DC
Resumen
Descripción
Bangladesh has experienced the largest
mass poisoning of a population in history owing to
contamination of groundwater with naturally occurring
inorganic arsenic. Continuous drinking of such
metal-contaminated water is highly cancerous; prolonged
drinking of such water risks developing diseases in a span
of just 5-10 years. Arsenicosis-intake of
arsenic-contaminated drinking water-has implications for
children's cognitive and psychological development.
This study examines the effect of arsenicosis at school and
at home on cognitive achievement of children in rural
Bangladesh using recent nationally representative school
survey data on students. Information on arsenic poisoning of
the primary source of drinking water-tube wells-is used to
ascertain arsenic exposure. The findings show an
unambiguously negative and statistically significant
correlation between mathematics score and arsenicosis at
home, net of exposure at school. Split-sample analysis
reveals that the effect is only specific to boys; for girls,
the effect is negative but insignificant. Similar
correlations are found for cognitive and non-cognitive
outcomes such as subjective well-being, that is, a
self-reported measure of life satisfaction (also a direct
proxy for health status) of students and their performance
in primary-standard mathematics. These correlations remain
robust to controlling for school-level exposure.
Palabras clave
ABORTION, ACCESS TO SCHOOLS, ACHIEVEMENT OF CHILDREN, ADULTS, AGED, AQUIFERS, ARSENIC, BIRTH RATES, BREASTFEEDING, BUSINESS SCHOOL, CANCER, CLASS SIZE, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOM LEVEL, CLASSROOMS, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, COGNITIVE SKILLS, CONTAMINATION OF DRINKING WATER, CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER, DRINKING WATER, EARLY CHILDHOOD, ECONOMICS, ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL INPUTS, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES, EDUCATIONAL PARTICIPATION, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, ENVIRONMENTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, EPIDEMIOLOGY, EROSION, HEAD TEACHER, HEAD-TEACHERS, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH EFFECTS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN WELL-BEING, IMMUNITY, INCOME, INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, KNOWLEDGE FACTOR, LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, LEARNING, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LEVEL OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, LITERATURE, MATERNAL EDUCATION, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, NUTRITIONAL FACTORS, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PAPERS, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PATIENTS, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, POLICY MAKERS, POOR PEOPLE, PREGNANCY, PRIMARY CYCLE, PRIMARY DATA, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY GRADE, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOLING, PRIVATE SCHOOL, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS, RADIO, READING, RESOURCE CENTRE, SCHOOL AGE, SCHOOL CATCHMENT AREAS, SCHOOL CHILDREN, SCHOOL EXPENDITURE, SCHOOL FACILITIES, SCHOOL GOING, SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL PARTICIPATION, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL REGISTERS, SCHOOL STUDENTS, SCHOOL SURVEY, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SCIENCE STUDY, SCREENING, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOUTH AMERICA, STILLBIRTH, STUDENT PERFORMANCE, TARGET SCHOOLS, TOXIC SUBSTANCES, TOXICITY, VICTIMS, WATER POLLUTION, WATER SUPPLY, YOUNG ADULTS