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EDITORIAL: A Price Tag on Bad Air: Health Costs of Pollution in Valley More Than $3 Billion Annually.

Posted on: Monday, 3 April 2006, 03:03 CDT

By The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Apr. 2--A new study has put a price tag on the health problems Valley residents face because of air pollution, and it's a whopper -- $3.2 billion annually.

That's the total cost of medical bills, student absences from school, sick days for grown-ups, chronic suffering and early death caused by pollution in the Valley, one of the nation's most polluted regions. The average is about $1,000 for each person in the Valley.

The study was conducted by Jane V. Hall and Victor Brajer, economics professors at California State University, Fullerton, and air expert Frederick W. Lurmann of Sonoma Technology Inc. Its scope was the eight counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. The $80,000 cost was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The $3.2 billion figure represents how much would be saved, according to Hall, "If you snapped your fingers and suddenly had clean air," which the researchers defined as meeting current federal standards for the tiny particulate matter known as PM-2.5, as well as smog-forming ozone.

The figure doesn't represent the entire savings available to us if we can manage to clean up our air.

The study, for instance, did not address costs such as the loss of crops to air pollution -- a figure measured in the many millions annually -- or the cost of sick and dying trees in the Sierra Nevada.

The researchers did lay out some specific estimates of the annual benefits of compliance with existing federal rules:

460 fewer premature deaths among those age 30 and older.

325 fewer new cases of chronic bronchitis.

188,400 fewer days of reduced activity in adults.

260 fewer hospital admissions.

23,300 fewer asthma attacks.

188,000 fewer days of school absence.

3,230 fewer cases of acute bronchitis in children.

3,000 fewer work days lost.

More than 17,000 fewer days of respiratory symptoms in children.

The study's authors and local health advocates said the research demonstrates the need for the Valley's leaders to move aggressively to clean up the air. Seyed Sadredin, executive director of the Valley air district, agreed: "The essence of the study is important. There is an economic cost." Yes, there is, and it's huge.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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