Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children

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.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz, Chaudhury, Nazmul
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-02
Subjects:	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,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/02/8994117/poisoning-mind-arsenic-contamination-cognitive-achievement-children https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6371
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