Environmental Burden of Childhood Disease in Europe

David Rojas-Rueda, Martine Vrijheid, Oliver Robinson, Aasvang Gunn Marit, Regina Gražulevičienė, Remy Slama and Mark Nieuwenhuijsen
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David Rojas-Rueda: Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Martine Vrijheid: Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Oliver Robinson: MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Aasvang Gunn Marit: Department of Air Pollution and Noise, Division for Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, N-0213 Oslo, Norway
Regina Gražulevičienė: Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas, 44248 Kaunas, Lithuania
Remy Slama: Department of Prevention and Therapy of Chronic Diseases, Institute of Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Inserm—CNRS—University Grenoble—Alpes, 38700 Grenoble, France
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen: Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), 08003 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: Background : Environmental factors determine children’s health. Quantifying the health impacts related to environmental hazards for children is essential to prioritize interventions to improve health in Europe. Objective : This study aimed to assess the burden of childhood disease due to environmental risks across the European Union. Methods : We conducted an environmental burden of childhood disease assessment in the 28 countries of the EU (EU28) for seven environmental risk factors (particulate matter less than 10 micrometer of diameter (PM 10 ) and less than 2.5 micrometer of diameter (PM 2.5 ), ozone, secondhand smoke, dampness, lead, and formaldehyde). The primary outcome was disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), assessed from exposure data provided by the World Health Organization, Global Burden of Disease project, scientific literature, and epidemiological risk estimates. Results : The seven studied environmental risk factors for children in the EU28 were responsible for around 211,000 DALYs annually. Particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) was the main environmental risk factor, producing 59% of total DALYs (125,000 DALYs), followed by secondhand smoke with 20% of all DALYs (42,500 DALYs), ozone 11% (24,000 DALYs), dampness 6% (13,000 DALYs), lead 3% (6200 DALYs), and formaldehyde 0.2% (423 DALYs). Conclusions : Environmental exposures included in this study were estimated to produce 211,000 DALYs each year in children in the EU28, representing 2.6% of all DALYs in children. Among the included environmental risk factors, air pollution (particulate matter and ozone) was estimated to produce the highest burden of disease in children in Europe, half of which was due to the effects of PM 10 on infant mortality. Effective policies to reduce environmental pollutants across Europe are needed.

Keywords: environmental health; burden of disease; disability-adjusted life years; childhood; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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