This paper studies the long-term effects of in-utero and early-life exposure to
pesticide use on adulthood and old-age longevity. We use the cyclical emergence
of cicadas in eastern half of the United States as a shock that raises the pesticide
use among tree crop growing farmlands. We implement a triple-difference
framework and employ Social Security Administration death records over the years
1975-2005 linked to the full-count 1940 census. We find that individuals born in
top-quartile tree-crop counties and exposed to a cicada event during fetal
development and early-life live roughly 2.2 months shorted lives; those with direct
farm exposure face a reduction of nearly a year. We provide empirical evidence to
rule out mortality selection before adulthood, endogenous fertility, and differential
data linkage rates. Additional analyses suggests that reductions in education and
income during adulthood are potential mechanisms of impact. Our findings add to
our understanding of the relevance of early-life insults for old-age health and
mortality