1. Which decreases in air pollution should be targeted to bring health and economic benefits and improve environmental justice?
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Stephan Gabet, Hélène Bouscasse, Rémy Slama, Xavier Morelli, Sandrine Mathy, Camille Rieux, Institute for Advanced Biosciences / Institut pour l'Avancée des Biosciences (Grenoble) (IAB), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire [Grenoble] (CHU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Etablissement français du sang - Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (EFS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), ATMO Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ATMO-AURA), Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble (GAEL), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Centre d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales Appliquées à l'Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux (CESAER), Etablissement National d'Enseignement Supérieur Agronomique de Dijon (ENESAD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), The present study is part of the QAMECS and MobilAir research projects, funded by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and by the IDEX Program of Grenoble-Alpes University ComUE in the framework of the 'Investing for the future' Program of the French National Research Agency (ANR-15-IDEX-02). It was carried out as part of the 'Breathable city in 5 years' Program of the French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition for Grenoble conurbation., QAMECS, MobilAir, CCSD, Accord Elsevier, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire [Grenoble] (CHU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Etablissement français du sang - Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (EFS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019] (UGA [2016-2019]), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire [Grenoble] (CHU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Etablissement français du sang - Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (EFS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement
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010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Natural resource economics ,Air pollution ,010501 environmental sciences ,Social deprivation ,medicine.disease_cause ,complex mixtures ,01 natural sciences ,Life Expectancy ,Dispersion model ,Social Justice ,Order (exchange) ,Air Pollution ,Economic cost ,11. Sustainability ,medicine ,Humans ,Social inequality ,[SHS.ECO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance ,Lung cancer Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) ,lcsh:Environmental sciences ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,Population Density ,lcsh:GE1-350 ,Environmental justice ,Air Pollutants ,Health impact assessment ,[SHS.ECO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance ,Economic benefits ,3. Good health ,13. Climate action ,Economic costs ,Particulate Matter ,Business - Abstract
Background: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure entails large health effects in many urban areas. Public measures aiming at decreasing air pollution are often designed without targeting an explicit health benefit. Our objective was to investigate the health and economic benefits and the social inequalities in exposure resulting from several scenarios of reduction of PM2.5 exposure, in order to support decisions about urban policies. Material and methods: In the French conurbations of Grenoble and Lyon (0.4 and 1.4 million inhabitants, respectively), PM2.5 yearly average exposure was estimated on a 10-m grid by coupling a PM2.5 dispersion model to population density. Changes in death cases, life expectancy, lung cancer and term low birth weight incident cases as well as associated health economic costs were estimated for ten PM2.5 reduction scenarios differing in terms of amplitude of reduction and spatial extent. Changes in social differences in PM2.5 exposure were also assessed. Results: During the 2015–2017 period, PM2.5 average exposure was 13.9 μg/m3 in Grenoble and 15.3 μg/m3 in Lyon conurbations. Exposure to PM2.5 led to an estimated 145 (95% Confidence Interval, CI, 90–199) and 531 (95% CI, 330–729) premature deaths, 16 (95% CI, 8–24) and 65 (95% CI, 30–96) incident lung cancers, and 49 (95% CI, 19–76) and 193 (95% CI, 76–295) term low birth weight cases each year in Grenoble and Lyon conurbations, respectively, compared to a situation without PM2.5 anthropogenic sources, i.e. a PM2.5 concentration of 4.9 μg/m3. The associated costs amounted to 495 (Grenoble) and 1767 (Lyon) M€/year for the intangible costs related to all-cause non-accidental mortality and 27 and 105 M€ for the tangible and intangible costs induced by lung cancer. A PM2.5 exposure reduction down to the WHO air quality guideline (10 μg/m3) would reduce anthropogenic PM2.5-attributable mortality by half while decreases by 2.9 μg/m3 (Grenoble) and 3.3 μg/m3 (Lyon) were required to reduce it by a third. Scenarios focusing only on the most exposed areas had little overall impact. Scenarios seeking to reach a homogeneous exposure in the whole study area were the most efficient in alleviating social inequalities in exposure. Conclusions: Reduction scenarios targeting only air pollution hotspots had little expected impact on population health. We provided estimates of the PM2.5 change required to reduce PM2.5-attributable mortality by one third or more. Our approach can help targeting air pollution reduction scenarios expected to entail significant benefits, and it could easily be transposed to other urban areas. Keywords: Dispersion model, Economic costs, Health impact assessment, Lung cancer, Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), Social deprivation
- Published
- 2019
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