The cost of medical costs linked to air pollution is estimated at 1 to 2 billion euros per year, according to new estimates.
Very expensive pollution. Particle fog typical of large cities does not only damage the health of residents; it also ruins the economies of states. Air pollution would cost France one to two billion euros per year in medical costs, according to an assessment published on Friday.
Asthma, bronchitis …
These figures come from a study carried out by researchers from Inserm and Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, who wanted to determine “as closely as possible” the share attributable to air pollution in five diseases. respiratory diseases, including asthma, chronic bronchitis and acute bronchitis. The results of this work were published in the journal Environment, Risks and Health.
To calculate these medical costs, the scientists integrated data relating to consultations, examinations and hospitalizations of patients whose number exploded during pollution peaks. They also included social benefits paid for work stoppages, as well as hospitalizations due to pollution for cardiovascular diseases.
Undervalued data
The authors of the study however qualify the results and explain that new calculation remains “surrounded by uncertainties”. “Our estimates should be viewed as orders of magnitude,” they admit. Pathologies such as rhinitis, sinusitis and conjunctivitis were not taken into account in the study, and could have been. “Despite these uncertainties, missing data and some underestimation, our study attempts to go further than previous studies based on GDP,” the authors point out.
In fact, the calculation of the weight of pollution on health costs is a science still uncertain, which gives rise to studies with heterogeneous results. Three previous studies had located the cost to health at much lower levels, ranging from 70 to 600 million euros, recall the signatories of the study, who consider these data undervalued.
In April 2014, a report from the Health Security Agency (ANSES) estimated the cost of pollution, indoor this time, at 19 billion euros annually – most of which is linked to health consequences.
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