Economic benefits of methylmercury exposure control in Europe: Monetary value of neurotoxicity prevention

Martine Bellanger (), Céline Pichery, Dominique Aerts, Marika Berglund, Argelia Castaño, Mája Čejchanová, Pierre Crettaz, Fred Davidson, Marta Esteban, Marc E Fischer, Anca Elena Gurzau, Katarina Halzlova, Andromachi Katsonouri, Lisbeth E Knudsen, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Gudrun Koppen, Danuta Ligocka, Ana Miklavčič, M Fátima Reis, Peter Rudnai, Janja Snoj Tratnik, Pál Weihe, Esben Budtz-Jørgensen and Philippe Grandjean ()
Additional contact information
Martine Bellanger: EA MOS - EA Management des Organisations de Santé - EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP] - PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP]
Céline Pichery: EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP]
Marika Berglund: LIU - Linköping University
Marc E Fischer: UNIBE - Universität Bern = University of Bern = Université de Berne
Lisbeth E Knudsen: UCPH - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet
Peter Rudnai: National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences - NIH - National Institutes of Health [Bethesda, MD, USA]
Pál Weihe: Department of Occupational Medicines and Public Health - LS - The Faroese Hospital System (Landssjúkrahúsið)
Philippe Grandjean: Department of Environmental Health - Harvard School of Public Health

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Abstract: Background: Due to global mercury pollution and the adverse health effects of prenatal exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), an assessment of the economic benefits of prevented developmental neurotoxicity is necessary for any cost-benefit analysis. Methods: Distributions of hair-Hg concentrations among women of reproductive age were obtained from the DEMOCOPHES project (1,875 subjects in 17 countries) and literature data (6,820 subjects from 8 countries). The exposures were assumed to comply with log-normal distributions. Neurotoxicity effects were estimated from a linear dose-response function with a slope of 0.465 Intelligence Quotient (IQ) point reduction per μg/g increase in the maternal hair-Hg concentration during pregnancy, assuming no deficits below a hair-Hg limit of 0.58 μg/g thought to be safe. A logarithmic IQ response was used in sensitivity analyses. The estimated IQ benefit cost was based on lifetime income, adjusted for purchasing power parity. Results: The hair-mercury concentrations were the highest in Southern Europe and lowest in Eastern Europe. The results suggest that, within the EU, more than 1.8 million children are born every year with MeHg exposures above the limit of 0.58 μg/g, and about 200,000 births exceed a higher limit of 2.5 μg/g proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The total annual benefits of exposure prevention within the EU were estimated at more than 600,000 IQ points per year, corresponding to a total economic benefit between €8,000 million and €9,000 million per year. About four-fold higher values were obtained when using the logarithmic response function, while adjustment for productivity resulted in slightly lower total benefits. These calculations do not include the less tangible advantages of protecting brain development against neurotoxicity or any other adverse effects. Conclusions: These estimates document that efforts to combat mercury pollution and to reduce MeHg exposures will have very substantial economic benefits in Europe, mainly in southern countries. Some data may not be entirely representative, some countries were not covered, and anticipated changes in mercury pollution all suggest a need for extended biomonitoring of human MeHg exposure.

Keywords: Economic evaluation; Prenatal exposure; Methylmercury; Neurodevelopmental deficits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01505639v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Environmental Health, 2013, 12, pp.3. ⟨10.1186/1476-069X-12-3⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01505639

DOI: 10.1186/1476-069X-12-3

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