Arthritis diagnosis and early-life exposure to air pollution.

Objectives: Evaluate the relationship between arthritis diagnosis in those over 50 and exposure to extreme air pollution in utero or infancy (<1 year of age).

Methods: Compare rates of arthritis diagnosis between groups that experienced differential air pollution exposure in early-life due to quasi-random variation in birth location and date relative to the 1952 Great Smog in London. We use regression-estimated difference-in-differences analyses based on English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) data.

Ambient air pollution and human performance: Contemporaneous and acclimatization effects of ozone exposure on athletic performance.

This paper utilizes a unique dataset of competitive outcomes from intercollegiate track and field competition to identify the relationship between recent ambient pollution exposure histories and human performance among a young and fit population in a diverse range of physically demanding "tasks". I find that higher contemporaneous ozone levels are associated with poorer performances in events that heavily tax the respiratory system. This is the case despite the low exposure levels observed in the studied sample, which are similar to those regularly experienced across the developed world.

Early-Life Exposure to the Great Smog of 1952 and the Development of Asthma.

Rationale: Little is known about the long-term effects of air pollution exposure and the root causes of asthma. We use exposure to intense air pollution from the 1952 Great Smog of London as a natural experiment to examine both issues.

Objectives: To determine whether exposure to extreme air pollution in utero or soon after birth affects asthma development later in life.