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...

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Main Authors:	Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz, Chaudhury, Nazmul
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
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 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6371

id	okr-10986-6371
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-63712021-04-23T14:02:31Z Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz Chaudhury, Nazmul 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 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. 2012-05-24T18:26:41Z 2012-05-24T18:26:41Z 2008-02 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/02/8994117/poisoning-mind-arsenic-contamination-cognitive-achievement-children http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6371 English Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4510 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research South Asia Bangladesh
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	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
spellingShingle	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 Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz Chaudhury, Nazmul Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
geographic_facet	South Asia Bangladesh
relation	Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4510
description	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.
format	Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author	Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz Chaudhury, Nazmul
author_facet	Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz Chaudhury, Nazmul
author_sort	Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz
title	Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
title_short	Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
title_full	Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
title_fullStr	Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
title_full_unstemmed	Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children
title_sort	poisoning the mind : arsenic contamination and cognitive achievement of children
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2012
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/02/8994117/poisoning-mind-arsenic-contamination-cognitive-achievement-children http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6371
_version_	1764400237354418176

Poisoning the Mind : Arsenic Contamination and Cognitive Achievement of Children

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