Valuing a reduction in the risk of skin sensitisation: A large-scale multi-country stated preference approach

Davide Contu, Chiara Sotis, Giles Atkinson, Vincent Chung, Damien Dussaux, Stavros Georgiou, Susana Mourato and Irène Hu

No 277, OECD Environment Working Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: Exposure to chemicals has been shown to cause skin sensitisation, leading to chronic conditions such as allergic contact dermatitis. Beyond physical symptoms, skin sensitisation can also reduce one’s quality of life, impair productivity and cause psychological distress. Despite its prevalence, information on the value that the public places on avoiding chemical-induced skin sensitisation remains limited. To fill this gap, the present paper details a stated preference survey estimating individuals’ willingness-to-pay to avoid the frequency, severity and visibility of skin flare-ups in nine countries (Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States). It also explores how other socio-economic factors such as age, gender and income affect the valuation of skin sensitisation. This work is part of a series of large-scale studies resulting from the Surveys on Willingness-to-Pay to Avoid Negative Chemicals-Related Health Effects project that intends to establish internationally comparable values for the willingness-to-pay to avoid negative health effects due to exposure to chemicals. The results from this paper are expected to be widely applicable in analyses assessing the value of reduced skin sensitisation in a range of chemical and environmental contexts.

Keywords: chemicals regulation; economic valuation; health risk; health valuation; monetised benefits; morbidity valuation; non-market valuation; skin sensitisation; stated preferences; surveys; value of a statistical case; willingness-to-pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 I18 J17 K32 Q51 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08-14
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:envaaa:277-en

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