US spends billions to treat kids sickened by pollution
May 5th, 2011 - 12:31 pm ICT by IANS New York, May 5 (IANS) The US is spending billions of dollars every year for the medical treatment of children who fall
ill due to environmental pollution, says a new report.
In 2008, over $76 billion was spent in such treatment as a result of air pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals and
other pollutants, says the study by researchers from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.
That amount was 3.5 percent of the nation’s total health care costs in 2008, compared to 2.8 percent in 1997, Xinhua
reported.
The costs included medical care and indirect costs due to lost work productivity among parents caring for ill children.
The study warned that if left unchecked, chemical pollution will continue to push health costs skyward.
“Left unchecked, these preventable environmental factors will continue to harm the health of our children and push up
health care costs,” study author Leonardo Trasande said.
The researchers studied the cost of childhood cancer and chronic conditions such as asthma, autism, attention deficit
disorder, and intellectual disability linked, at least in part, to toxins and contaminants in water, air, soil and
food.
The study appears in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs.
Health Affairs also published another report which said there are some 83,000 toxic chemicals currently in the US
market.
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- China's future sustainable development in light of rapid urbanization in serious doubt: study - Nov 02, 2010
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Tags: air pollution, attention deficit disorder, chemical pollution, childhood cancer, chronic conditions, environmental pollution, health care costs, health costs, ill children, indirect costs, intellectual disability, journal health affairs, mt sinai school of medicine, school of medicine, sinai school, study author, toxic chemicals, water air, work productivity, xinhua