IOM: The Economics of Better Environmental Health

Abstract

Over the past two decades, epidemiological studies have strengthened the link between air pollution and specific respiratory ailments, yielding better valuations for the pollution-related costs of illness and thus pinpointing the benefits of environmental regulations. Much work remains to be done, however, in linking air pollution to other important health outcomes, such as cancer, infant mortality, and even doctor visits. Nagging questions also remain about how best to translate health effects into economic values. These were some of the questions addressed at the 14 November 2006 Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine. a project of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine cosponsored by the NIEHS along with several other public and private entities. Economists and public health analysts outlined developing methodologies to identify and quantify the health benefits of reduced air pollution and to pinpoint costs to industry of complying with air quality regulations. “Overall, estimating risk from air pollution is becoming more precise as the pathway from air pollution to health is better characterized,” said C. Arden Pope, a Brigham Young University economist, at the roundtable. Monitoring large groups of people for long periods has enabled researchers to better control for confounding factors such as age, sex, and cigarette smoking, said Pope. More interdisciplinary work is needed to expand the scope of health benefits that can result from reduced pollution as well as further pinpoint measurable compliance costs of regulation.