A Toast to Health? The Unintended Impact of Pesticides in Italy’s Prosecco Region

Alessandro Palma (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

We investigate the health effects of pesticide exposure in Italy’s Prosecco region. Following the 2009 PDO expansion, vineyard growth intensified concerns about pesticide use. We leverage staggered municipal regulations introduced from 2012 restricting toxic pesticides near sensitive areas. Using individual administrative data of mandatory standardized test scores for second graders (2018–2024), we isolate in-utero exposure in a difference-in-differences setting that compare cohorts conceived before and after local regulations and tracks later outcomes in grade 2nd. Preliminary results show children born in regulated municipalities score about 0.20 standard deviations higher in mathematics, with no detectable effect on language.