ESTIMATING THE MORTALITY COSTS OF LEAD EMISSIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Despite the rapid growth of road transport, emissions of lead have fal len dramatically in recent decades, so much so that experts suggest ai rborne lead is no longer a health risk in developed economics. To test this proposition, recent epidemiological evidence on dose-response fu nctions is merged with economic valuation techniques to derive an econ omic cost for lead emissions in the UK. While premature mortality effe cts are modest, it is concluded that the overall economic cost is stil l significant. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.