Chemical Footprint as an Indicator of Health Impacts: The Case of Dioxins and Furans in Brazil

Biagio Fernando Giannetti (), Fábio Sevegnani, Feni Agostinho, Cecília M. V. B. Almeida, Pedro Henrique Bolanho Simões and Gengyuan Liu
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Biagio Fernando Giannetti: Graduation Program on Production Engineering, Paulista University, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Fábio Sevegnani: Graduation Program on Production Engineering, Paulista University, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Feni Agostinho: Graduation Program on Production Engineering, Paulista University, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Cecília M. V. B. Almeida: Graduation Program on Production Engineering, Paulista University, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Pedro Henrique Bolanho Simões: Lisam EcoAdvisor Systems, São Paulo 05319-000, Brazil
Gengyuan Liu: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Humans are exposed to several chemical substances during their regular daily activities that can be harmful even in low quantities. Accounting for the mass of a given released chemical may not be appropriate for the assessment of its toxicological impact. To overcome the lack of a systemic perspective of mass-based assessments, methods such as the chemical footprint (ChF) are an alternative to account for a given chemical’s environmental and human toxicological impacts, a task that is considered essential in order to achieve the Agenda 2030 for sustainability. Among others, persistent organic pollutants (POP) should receive attention due to their high potential impact. Using the USEtox model to estimate indicators of human health impact, this study proposes an approach to calculate ChF for dioxins and furans and applies it to Brazil as a case study. The USEtox model quantifies human health impacts from the characterization of factors of a given chemical. Results show that ChF for dioxins and furans is approximately 620 DALY, representing a potential loss of 620 years of life in the Brazilian population. Social costs related to dioxins and furans emissions achieved USD 30 million, translating into monetary values not found in the existing literature. Besides highlighting the impacts of chemical emissions on the Brazilian population, this work contributes to the advances in methods for quantifying more appropriately such impacts beyond the exclusive use of mass units, in turn supporting sustainability-related public policies.

Keywords: chemical footprint; health impacts; dioxins; furans; USEtox (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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