Environmental Health Perspectives · 2014 · 471 citations · 22 references
Public HealthEnvironmental SciencesToxicologyAir PollutionEnvironmental HealthEpidemiologyAir PollutantsDisease BurdenEnvironmental EpidemiologyEnvironmental Health PolicyExposure AssessmentParticulate MatterAirborne Particulate ExposureBurden Of Disease MetricsDisability-adjusted Life Year AnalysisDisability-adjusted Life YearsEnvironmental Burden MappingEnvironmental Exposure FactorsEpidemiology Of Air Pollution Health EffectsPopulation Health Burden
Environmental health effects vary widely in severity, disease type, and duration, and integrated measures such as environmental burden of disease are useful for prioritizing environmental health policies and research. This review summarizes the EBoDE project’s assessment of nine environmental risk factors across Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, aiming to provide burden estimates that support policy evaluation, resource allocation, and identification of susceptible groups, and to highlight the need for improved international exposure monitoring standards. The authors estimated disability‑adjusted life years for benzene, dioxins, secondhand smoke, formaldehyde, lead, traffic noise, ozone, PM2.5, and radon using WHO burden‑of‑disease data, national exposure measurements, and epidemiological or toxicological risk estimates. Across the six countries, 3–7 % of the annual disease burden is attributable to the nine assessed environmental risk factors, with PM2.5 the dominant contributor (6,000–10,000 DALYs/year affecting ~1 million people), while secondhand smoke, traffic noise, and radon each account for 600–1,200 DALYs per million, and uncertainties remain high for dioxins and formaldehyde, yet the overall ranking of risks is robust enough to inform policy and resource allocation.
Environmental health effects vary considerably with regard to their severity, type of disease, and duration. Integrated measures of population health, such as environmental burden of disease (EBD), are useful for setting priorities in environmental health policies and research. This review is a summary of the full Environmental Burden of Disease in European countries (EBoDE) project report.The EBoDE project was set up to provide assessments for nine environmental risk factors relevant in selected European countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands).Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were estimated for benzene, dioxins, secondhand smoke, formaldehyde, lead, traffic noise, ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5), and radon, using primarily World Health Organization data on burden of disease, (inter)national exposure data, and epidemiological or toxicological risk estimates. Results are presented here without discounting or age-weighting.About 3-7% of the annual burden of disease in the participating countries is associated with the included environmental risk factors. Airborne particulate matter (diameter ≤ 2.5 μm; PM2.5) is the leading risk factor associated with 6,000-10,000 DALYs/year and 1 million people. Secondhand smoke, traffic noise (including road, rail, and air traffic noise), and radon had overlapping estimate ranges (600-1,200 DALYs/million people). Some of the EBD estimates, especially for dioxins and formaldehyde, contain substantial uncertainties that could be only partly quantified. However, overall ranking of the estimates seems relatively robust.With current methods and data, environmental burden of disease estimates support meaningful policy evaluation and resource allocation, including identification of susceptible groups and targets for efficient exposure reduction. International exposure monitoring standards would enhance data quality and improve comparability.
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Stephen S Lim, Theo Vos, Abraham D Flaxman et al. · The Lancet · 2012 · 12K citations · Full text
Public Health, Chronic Disease Control, Chronic Disease Prevention +17