Author(s)

Andrew Hansong ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Horace Mann Upper School, 231 West 246th Street, Bronx, New York 10471, United States

Corresponding Author

Andrew Hansong

ABSTRACT

Air pollution constitutes a systematically underestimated economic burden in the United States. Based on nearly two decades of microeconometric and general equilibrium simulation cross-evidence, each 1 μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 concentration reduces U.S. labor productivity by 0.6% to 1.9%, with welfare losses equivalent to $950 to $3,000 per household annually, reaching 50% to 160% the scale of pollution-related mortality impacts. This effect is not only transmitted through clinical disease pathways; subclinical cognitive function suppression, increased risk of occupational injuries, and obstructed career trajectories together form more concealed cost channels. Macro-economic accounting shows that local air pollution damage accounted for 6.4% of GDP in 1999 and still 3.2% in 2008. Long-term tracking of the Clean Air Act confirms policy returns conversely; the reduction of lead exposure alone has brought a 3.5% lifetime income increase to the average worker, equivalent to a total benefit of $4.23 trillion. The economic impact of air pollution varies with regional industrial structure and population vulnerability, with the South and Midwest bearing disproportionate welfare losses.

KEYWORDS

Air pollution; Labor productivity; Income growth

CITE THIS PAPER

Andrew Hansong. The Economic Impact of Air Pollution on Labor Productivity and Income Growth in the United States. Population, Resources & Environmental Economics (2026). Vol. 7, No. 1: 13-17. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/pree.2026.070102.

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