Air Pollution and Health: Economic and Epidemiological Aspects

Abstract

Examines three inter‐related facets of environmental pollution: the physiological facet, namely the effect of exposure on health (specifically, morbidity), which has revealed a significant relationship between qualitatively‐defined ambient pollution levels in either respondent′s place of residence or workplace and self‐reported respiratory symptoms and diseases; a behavioural facet, manifested in seeking health care and in restricting normal activity, which has shown significant relationships between mean sulphur dioxide concentrations during a two‐week period preceding the interview and utilization of medical services or restricted activity days over the same period; and an economic facet, which translated these behavioural responses into economic costs, in terms of the value of lost output and additional health‐care resources, and elicited direct estimates of these economic costs in terms of the willingness to pay of households to avoid the health consequences of exposure to pollution. Findings indicate a high degree of consistency among three alternative methods for eliciting willingness to pay, but a sizeable discrepancy between the two approaches to valuing the economic cost. Explains the discrepancy by the different methodological basis of the two approaches.

Citation

Shechter, M., Epstein, L. and Cohen, A. (1993), "Air Pollution and Health: Economic and Epidemiological Aspects", Environmental Management and Health, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 6-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/09566169310025214