China's Coal-to-Gas Policy: A Mental Health Boost for Rural Elderly?

In 2017, China started a "coal-to-gas" policy to reduce indoor air pollution. This policy helped rural households switch to cleaner energy. But did it also improve the mental health of elderly residents? Researchers from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) found that it did. They used a special method called difference-in-differences to compare mental health before and after the policy. Guess what? The elderly in homes that switched to gas saw a big improvement in their memory and overall cognitive function. This improvement was even more obvious in their ability to recall specific events, which jumped by over 10%. Plus, more households started using cleaner cooking fuels, which is great for health. The study suggests that better sleep due to cleaner air might be the reason behind these mental health gains. This study shows that policies aimed at indoor air pollution control can have a real positive impact on mental health.