Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Yamada, Daichi
• Hiwatari, Masato
• Narita, Daiju
• Hangoma, Peter
• Chitah, Bona
• Nakata, Hokuto
• Nakayama, Shouta M.M.
• Yabe, John
• Ito, Mayumi
• Igarashi, Toshifumi
• Ishizuka, Mayumi
• Zyambo, Golden

Titel

Social cost of mining-related lead (Pb) pollution in Kabwe, Zambia, and potential remediation measures

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2023-03, Vol.865, p.161281, Article 161281

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Lead (Pb) pollution has been one of the major environmental problems of worldwide significance. It is a latent factor for several fatal illnesses, whereas the exposure to lead in early childhood causes a lifetime IQ loss. The social cost is the concept to aggregate various adverse effects in a single monetary unit, which is useful in describing the pollution problem and provides foundation for the design of interventions. However, the assessment of the social cost is scarce for developing countries. In this study, we focus on the lead pollution problem of a former mining town, Kabwe, Zambia, where mining wastes abandoned near residential areas has caused a critical pollution problem. We first investigated the social cost of lead pollution that future generations born in 2025–2049 would incur in their lifetime. As the channels of the social cost, we considered the lost income from the IQ loss and the lost lives from lead-related mortality. The results showed that the social cost would amount to 224–593 million USD (discounted to the present value). Our results can be considered conservative, lower bound estimates because we focused only on well-identified effects of lead, but the social cost was still substantial. Then we examined several engineering remediation measures. The results showed that the social cost can be reduced (the benefits of remediations) more than the costs of implementing remediation measures. This study is the first to investigate the social cost of mining-related lead pollution problem in developing countries. Our interdisciplinary approach utilises the micro-level economic, health and pollution data and integrates the techniques in economics, toxicology and engineering. [Display omitted] •We estimated the social cost of lead (Pb) pollution in Kabwe, Zambia.•The income loss from IQ declines and the increased mortality were accounted for.•We also examined the costs and benefits of potential remediation measures.•Results: the social cost was significant, and remediation was socially profitable.•An interdisciplinary approach between economics, engineering and toxicology.