References

1. Economic impact assessment of environmental contamination: A damage function approach Eloi Schreursa, Irina Cleemputb, Tim Nawrotc, Theo Thewysa a Centre for Environmental Sciences (CMK), Hasselt University, Agoralaan – Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek, BELGIUM; presenting author b Faculty of Business Economics, Hasselt University, Agoralaan – Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek, BELGIUM c Faculty of Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan – Building D, 3590 Diepenbeek, BELGIUM • 1. Introduction • Environmentalpollutionis a persistent andharmfulproblem • Exposure to heavy metalscan have animpact on public health • Cadmium (Cd) has been associated with osteoporosis, cancer and kidney damage 2. Methodology Damage function approach • 3. Case study • Campine region (brown area) in Belgium • Heavy metalpollution due to zinc smelters • No more Cd emissions since 1980s • Results from earlier epidemiologic research: • Higher Cd body burdenin high exposure areas (HEA) • Increased relative risk (RR) of osteoporotic fractures (Staessen et al., 1999) and lung cancer (Nawrot et al., 2006) Research topic UNESCO sponsored conference 8th CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 4. Data OF ENERGY, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM September 22-27, 2013, Dubrovnik, Croatia • 5. Results • Health risk assessment (only lung cancer presented here) • Health economic analysis • 6. Conclusion • More than €500,000 per year in medical costs due to pollution • Pollution flow has stopped since 1980s, 20-25 years ago •  pollution causes long lasting health and economic burden • Contribution of soil Cd to body burden is relatively small •  PA illnesses are expected to decrease in the future • Assumptions and restrictions • Conservative economic estimate • RR have remained constant over the years References Hiligsmann, M., Gathon, H. J., Bruyere, O., Daubie, M., Parmentier, Y., Dercq, J. P. et al. (2011). Hospitalisation costs of hip fractures in Belgium. Osteoporosis International 22: 332-332. Nawrot, T., Plusquin, M., Hogervorst, J., Roels, H. A., Celis, H., Thijs, L. et al. (2006). Environmental exposure to cadmium and risk of cancer: a prospective population-based study. Lancet Oncology 7(2): 119-126. Staessen, J. A., Roels, H. A., Emelianov, D., Kuznetsova, T., Thijs, L., Vangronsveld, J. et al. (1999). Environmental exposure to cadmium, forearm bone density, and risk of fractures: prospective population study. Lancet 353(9159): 1140-1144.