Price of Pollution

The Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health (MNCEH) and the Ecology Center this week released a report (PDF) estimating the cost of environment-related childhood disease in Michigan called "The Price of Pollution."

The report finds that the state of Michigan could save up to 1.5% of its Gross Domestic Product each year by protecting children from environmental exposures. The report estimated the cost of asthma, lead poisoning, pediatric cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders in the state of Michigan to be $5.85 billion annually.

An increasing number of Americans believe toxic chemicals are contributing to widespread diseases and disorders, and negatively impact the health care system and economy. For example, failure to meet the stricter chemical standards set by the European Union threatens the U.S. chemical sector to a loss of the European market, which is valued at $14 billion per year and is responsible for 54,000 American jobs.

It makes more economic sense for industry to pay the modest costs to comply with the European standards than to lose that export market entirely. By refusing to hold the chemical industry to innovative standards that protect public health and the environment, the government is imposing great costs on the health care system and creating long-term risks to U.S. industries

Health care costs increase when people, particularly children, are exposed to toxic chemicals. One study of children’s illnesses associated with environmental exposures estimated the total preventable costs in 1997 to be around $55 billion per year.