Water Economics and Politics Seminar Series
/ Water and health

Burying the Lead: Effects of public lead service line replacements on blood lead levels and property values

Speaker: Assoc. Prof. Michelle M. Marcus | Vanderbilt University, United States

Moderator: Dist. Prof. Emer. Ariel Dinar | University of California, Riverside (UCR), United States

Time: 16:00 South African Standard Time (SAST) | GMT +2

Topic: Despite the well-known health consequences of lead exposure, an estimated 6 to 10 million lead service lines still deliver drinking water to homes throughout the United States. Disadvantaged communities are disproportionately exposed to lead service lines, contributing to health and human capital disparities. This paper studies the effects of public lead service line replacements on households using address-level data on children's blood lead levels, home sales, and public service line installations from Rhode Island. Replacements significantly reduced child blood lead levels by approximately 0.4 μg/dL, increased property values by 7–8%, and increased the probability of moving among renters.

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Michelle Marcus

About the speaker: I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Vanderbilt University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). I received my PhD in Economics in 2017 from Brown University. My research broadly focuses on determinants of child health and well-being, with a particular focus on environmental exposures and the effectiveness of regulation. Some of my recent research seeks to quantify the direct health impacts of important sources of pollution, such as leaking underground storage tanks, lead service lines, and drinking water contamination. Other work measures the effectiveness of regulation and the role of behavioural responses, focusing on maritime emission regulation and public notification requirements, for example. More on michellemmarcus.com.

Seminar format:

  • Live online session on Microsoft Teams
  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Live presentation with Q&A session

Who should attend: This series is open to students and faculty from academic institutions across South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, policymakers, engineering and technical professionals, advocacy groups, NGO staff, and anyone with a keen interest in water economics and policy.

The UCT-UCR Seminar Series

This seminar is part of the UCT-UCR Seminar Series: Water Economics and Politics, a collaboration between the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of California, Riverside (UCR). Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on upcoming sessions.

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