Cost and health benefit analysis of remediation alternatives for the heavy-metal-contaminated agricultural land in a Pb–Zn mining town in China

Abstract

Remediation is necessary for severely polluted soils due to metal mining activities in China. For decision making of future soil remediation, field-scale information on the cost effectiveness of remediation is substantially required. This study presents a field-scale assessment of the health benefit of soil remediation technologies, which were seldom considered in the previous cost–benefit analyses (CBAs) in China. Four frequently applied technologies, namely, soil replacement, soil washing, stabilization/solidification, and phytoremediation, are analyzed for the agricultural land in a typical lead/zinc town in China. “Disability-adjusted life years” (DALY) is applied to quantify health impact, and cost–benefit analysis is utilized to identify the most economically feasible technology. For the target mining area in China, all four remediation technologies are found to be effective, reducing over 70% of the personal lifetime DALY for the residents. Cost–benefit analysis shows that the health benefit of soil remediation exceeds the cost, indicating economically feasible remediation. Considering the health and economic benefit estimated in this research, phytoremediation is identified as potentially the best technology, with 672.59% benefit rate and 96.90% reduction in health impact. Compared with the other types of benefits reported in previous studies, health benefit is at an unneglectable level. Including health benefits in future CBAs for agriculture soil remediation projects is significant.