Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Gould (
2009
) conducted a cost
bene
t analysis of social and economic bene
ts
-
that can arise from lead reduction in household paints and found:
(1) The cost of lead paint hazard control ranged from $1 to $11 billion;
(2) The monetary gain as a result of lead hazard control amounted to $11
$53
billion for reduction in medical treatment costs, $165 to $223 billion for
increased earnings potential, $25 to $35 billion for increased tax revenue, $30
to $146 million in reduced special education costs, $267 million for reduction
in treatment of lead-linked ADHD cases, and a gain of $1.7 billion stemming
from reduced criminal activity linked to lead; and
(3) The net bene
-
t to society can be worth as much as $181 to $269 billion, a
return of $17
$221 per each dollar invested in hazard control.
-
Landrigan et al. (
2002
) estimated the costs of four categories of illnesses: lead
poisoning, asthma, cancer, and neurobehavioral disorders. They identi
ed the main
consequence of lead poisoning as the loss of IQ over one
s lifetime. The estimated
loss in lifetime earnings for a 1 year cohort of 5-year-old boys in 1997 was $27.8
billion, while it was $15.6 billion for girls of the same year cohort (BLLs were
relatively the same for both groups). The total loss to society was estimated at $43.4
billion for lead poisoning, while the total annual costs of environmentally attrib-
utable diseases ranged from $48.8 to 64.8 billion (Landrigan et al.
2002
). A similar
study conducted by Davies (
2006
) in Washington State estimated the loss in life-
time earnings for 5-year-old boys at $947.4 and $531.5 million for 5-year-old girls
for a total of $1478.8 million in 2004 dollars. Stefanak et al. (
2005
) estimated the
cost of child lead poisoning in Mahoning County, Ohio, on the healthcare system.
They found that the cost of screening and treating each child for lead poisoning
increases as BLLs increase. Children with BLLs over 20
'
g/dL on average can cost
the system $969 per child compared to $29 for children with BLLs under 10
μ
g/L;
the total cost in 2002 was $124,653. Stefanak et al. (
2005
) also estimated the cost
associated with the effects of lead on juvenile delinquency and special education.
The (discounted) cost for juvenile justice services for children with BLLs greater
than 25
μ
g/dL is $223,536 for each 1 year cohort of children. Special education cost
was estimated at $85,295 for each 1 year cohort of children and the total cost to the
system was estimated at $499,484. Zahran et al. (
2009
) suggested that a one-time
payment for preschool lead exposure prevention would be more cost-effective than
having to pay periodically for the future costs associated with neurotoxic damage
associated with lead exposure during preschool years.
μ
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