Ambient PM2.5 and productivity-adjusted life years lost in Brazil: a national population-based study

Enormous health burden has been associated with air pollution and its effects continue to grow. However, the impact of air pollution on labour productivity at the population level is still unknown. This study assessed the association between premature death due to PM2.5 exposure and the loss of productivity-adjusted life years (PALYs), in Brazil. We applied a novel variant of the difference-in-difference (DID) approach to assess the association. Daily all-cause mortality data in Brazil were collected from 2000-2019. The PALYs lost increased by 5.11% (95% CI: 4.10%–6.13%), for every 10 µg/m3 increase in the 2-day moving average of PM2.5. A total of 9,219,995 (95% CI: 7,491,634–10,921,141) PALYs lost and US$ 268.05 (95% CI: 217.82–317.50) billion economic costs were attributed to PM2.5 exposure, corresponding to 7.37% (95% CI: 5.99%–8.73%) of the total PALYs lost due to premature death. This study also found that 5,005,306 PALYs could be avoided if the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline (AQG) level was met. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that ambient PM2.5 exposure is associated with a considerable labour productivity burden relating to premature death in Brazil, while over half of the burden could be prevented if the WHO AQG was met. The findings highlight the need to reduce ambient PM2.5 levels and provide strong evidence for the development of strategies to mitigate the economic impacts of air pollution. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are particles with diameters smaller than 2.5 micrometres and have been linked to many adverse health problems. PM2.5 exposure is a leading health risk and is estimated to have caused 4·2 million deaths in 2015 globally. However, assessments of the impacts of air pollution on labour productivity are still limited. This study used productivity-adjusted life years (PALYs), to quantify the PM2.5-related labour productivity burden, at the population level. The findings emphasized that substantial productivity burden and economic costs could be prevented, if WHO guidelines were met. The findings provide evidence for developing actions to mitigate the impacts of air pollution.