What's cost of breathing dirty air? eg, in San Joaquin Valley

[Guest guest]

Reporter didn't consider the cost of autism, whose rates are increased

in association with airborne pollutants (eg, 1-3). The reporter would

appreciate learning about the relationship between pollutants and autism

rates (1-3).

~

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What's cost of breathing dirty air?

Billion-dollar Valley estimate stirs emotions and confusion.

Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008

By Mark Grossi

The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1097146.html

The more than 800 people who died prematurely this year from breathing

dirty San Joaquin Valley air are worth $6.63 million each, economists say.

Relatives don't collect a dime, but society is willing to pay someone

this price. Confused? You're not alone.

The figure -- which surfaced in a report last month -- is commonly

misunderstood. People sometimes think it means missed wages, a payout

from some global life insurance policy or health expenditures.

After hearing the amount, a government wonk privately suggested cleaning

up the Valley's air and using the savings to balance the state's budget.

The grand total for more than 800 lost lives is $5.2 billion.

But this is no pile of cash.

It's a statistic -- the amount of money that society would be willing to

spend on preventing premature death due to bad air, economists say.

Government agencies routinely use such estimates to establish new safety

regulations.

Such a price tag stirs emotions. To some people, it sounds too high. To

respiratory therapist Hamilton, a health advocate in air-quality

issues, the number seems low.

" How do you place a value on my wife? " he asked. " How do you represent

hope and dreams? It doesn't sound like there's nearly enough value built

into it. "

The value is based on decades of studies that set value on human life

for decision-making agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency and the Department of Transportation.

A central factor in the value: the amount of extra money industries are

willing to pay for more risky jobs. Another part of the equation is how

much less money people would accept to get a safe job.

For years, these statistical values on human life have been used in cost

analyses of new federal cleanup or safety rules.

" It's just like any other risk in society, " said economist Jane V. Hall

of California State University, Fullerton. " When we choose to pay for

widening a bridge, for instance, we do it based on reducing the risk. We

do it to protect human life. We need to know the statistical value of a

life. "

Hall, fellow economist Victor Brajer from Cal State Fullerton and

Frederick Lurmann at Sonoma Technology used such a statistic in a report

they released last month on the benefits of meeting federal standards in

the Valley and the South Coast Air Basin.

The death and dollar figures are staggering, by most accounts. There are

3,800 premature deaths each year in the Valley and the South Coast Air

Basin, which have the worst air pollution in the nation.

Using established studies from the California Air Resources Board, the

economists determined the air-related deaths occur about 14 years sooner

than they should.

The annual value of those early deaths is $24 billion, economists said.

That hefty value should help influence decisions on rules and

investments in air cleanup, they said.

For instance, the number helps justify a $5.5 billion cost for cleaning

up on-road diesel truck and bus fleets in California. Diesel trucks and

buses are among the biggest sources of toxic diesel particles and

ozone-forming oxides of nitrogen.

But don't get the idea that the value of life could be the basis of a

lucrative lawsuit.

The $6.63 million doesn't apply to the life of one individual, such as

your uncle or your best friend. Economist Winder, a professor at

the University of California at Merced, said the value is not

customarily part of lawsuits or other legal proceedings.

Said Winder, " The statistical value-of-life estimates don't take into

account variation between individuals in terms of education,

productivity, age and other factors. "

Adding to the complexity and the confusion, the value does not remain

the same for various federal agencies as they consider new safety

regulations.

When the Department of Transportation changed child-restraint rules for

motorists a few years ago, the cost of each life saved was pegged at

between $1.5 million and $4.9 million, based on studies of what society

would pay to protect the children.

At the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, members of the

public have incorrectly used the value as a health expense. Officials

worry about the misunderstanding, saying the money is not real.

There are estimates of actual health costs and related spending included

in the study from Hall, Brajer and Lurmann. But the estimates amount to

a small fraction of the total cost of dirty air cited in the study.

Of the more than $6 billion in annual Valley cost for bad air, less than

15% applies to health expenditures and days missed for school and work.

But Hall said in the research that the value of life is real money.

Industries are willing to pay more for dangerous jobs. People are

willing to take less money for safer jobs.

For instance, a steel mill might pay $700 extra per year for a job with

more risk. For a safer job, people would have to accept less money. That

difference represents a way society values life.

" That is real money, " she said. " It shows how much money people would

sacrifice for a safer job. "

The reporter can be reached at mgrossi@... or .

1: *Proximity to point sources of environmental mercury release as a

predictor of autism prevalence*

Palmer RF, Blanchard S, Wood R.

Health Place. 2009 Mar;15(1):18-24. Epub 2008 Feb 12.

The objective of this study was to determine if proximity to sources of

mercury pollution in 1998 were related to autism prevalence in 2002.

Autism count data from the Texas Educational Agency and environmental

mercury release data from the Environmental Protection Agency were used.

We found that for every 1000 pounds of industrial release, there was a

corresponding 2.6% increase in autism rates (p<.05) and a 3.7% increase

associated with power plant emissions(P<.05). Distances to these sources

were independent predictors after adjustment for relevant covariates.

For every 10 miles from industrial or power plant sources, there was an

associated decreased autism Incident Risk of 2.0% and 1.4%, respectively

(p<.05). While design limitations preclude interpretation of individual

risk, further investigations of environmental risks to child development

issues are warranted.

PMID: 18353703

2: *Autism spectrum disorders in relation to distribution of hazardous

air pollutants in the san francisco bay area*

Windham GC, Zhang L, Gunier R, Croen LA, Grether JK.

Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Sep;114(9):1438-44.

OBJECTIVE: To explore possible associations between autism spectrum

disorders (ASD) and environmental exposures, we linked the California

autism surveillance system to estimated hazardous air pollutant (HAP)

concentrations compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

METHODS: Subjects included 284 children with ASD and 657 controls, born

in 1994 in the San Francisco Bay area. We assigned exposure level by

census tract of birth residence for 19 chemicals we identified as

potential neurotoxicants, developmental toxicants, and/or endocrine

disruptors from the 1996 HAPs database. Because concentrations of many

of these were highly correlated, we combined the chemicals into

mechanistic and structural groups, calculating summary index scores. We

calculated ASD risk in the upper quartiles of these group scores or

individual chemical concentrations compared with below the median,

adjusting for demographic factors. RESULTS: The adjusted odds ratios

(AORs) were elevated by 50% in the top quartile of chlorinated solvents

and heavy metals [95% confidence intervals (CIs) , 1.1-2.1], but not for

aromatic solvents. Adjusting for these three groups simultaneously led

to decreased risks for the solvents and increased risk for metals (AORs

for metals: fourth quartile = 1.7 ; 95% CI, 1.0-3.0 ; third quartile =

1.95 ; 95% CI, 1.2-3.1) . The individual compounds that contributed most

to these associations included mercury, cadmium, nickel,

trichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest

a potential association between autism and estimated metal

concentrations, and possibly solvents, in ambient air around the birth

residence, requiring confirmation and more refined exposure assessment

in future studies.

PMID: 16966102

3: *Environmental mercury release, special education rates, and autism

disorder: an ecological study of Texas*

Palmer RF, Blanchard S, Stein Z, Mandell D, C.

Health Place. 2006 Jun;12(2):203-9.

The association between environmentally released mercury, special

education and autism rates in Texas was investigated using data from the

Texas Education Department and the United States Environmental

Protection Agency. A Poisson regression analysis adjusted for school

district population size, economic and demographic factors was used.

There was a significant increase in the rates of special education

students and autism rates associated with increases in environmentally

released mercury. On average, for each 1,000 lb of environmentally

released mercury, there was a 43% increase in the rate of special

education services and a 61% increase in the rate of autism. The

association between environmentally released mercury and special

education rates were fully mediated by increased autism rates. This

ecological study suggests the need for further research regarding the

association between environmentally released mercury and developmental

disorders such as autism. These results have implications for policy

planning and cost analysis.

PMID: 16338635

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