Cost of select environmental diseases among children in California

Background:       The World Health Organization has estimated that 13% of disease in the United States is caused by preventable environmental hazards.  Children are more susceptible than adults to environmental hazards.  This assessment estimates the environmental cost of four select childhood diseases in California: asthma, cancer, lead poisoning, and neurobehavioral disorders.

Methods:            Direct costs, indirect costs, and lost earnings due to death or disability are presented annually, and over the lifetime. To estimate the amount of disease attributable to the environment, the environmentally attributable fraction model was used. California state data sources were used when available. All cost estimates were inflated to 2013$.

Results:               The annual cost of childhood asthma due to the environment in California is $194.1 million, and $5.9 million in lifetime costs. For the three most prevalent types of childhood cancer (leukemia, lymphomas, and brain/CNS cancers), the annual cost due to the environment is $6.3 million, and $11.1 in lifetime costs. For three neurobehavioral disorders (autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and intellectual disability), the annual cost due to the environment is $8.3 million, and $1.8 billion in lifetime costs. Total lifetime earnings lost due to lead poisoning for each birth cohort in California is $7.5-10.8 billion.

Conclusions:      By preventing environmental hazards, California would save $208 million annually. Over the lifetime of each birth cohort in California, the reduction of environmental hazards could result in an additional $9-12 billion gain in earnings and averted costs.  Investing in disease prevention and the reduction of environmental hazards would have a substantial health and fiscal impact on the lives of Californians.