ABSTRACT
Objective To explore a practicable method for analyzing the cost losses of residents' health impact induced by environmental pollution and evaluate the cost losses of local residents' health impact in arsenic contaminative area. Methods The data on residents' health were obtained in an arsenic polluted area as the basis analysis of economic loss. Additionally, the data on the sizes of local population, GDP, the annual personal income, the annual prevalence of acute diseases, absence due to sickness and patients' nursing care, the annual prevalence of chronic diseases in 1985. Local residents' age specific death rates and sizes of population in 1985-1995 were collected also. 3 mumerable indexes were screened for estimating the cost losses of residents' a health impact in arsenic contaminative area based on the data mentioned above and combined with abridged life table. Results Based on the calculated GDP and personal average income in 1995, the cost losses of residents due to arsenic pollution consisted of 3 sections: the first included GDP losses of 50.52 yuan/(person-year) and personal income loss of 43.71 yuan/(person-year) attributed to the reduced life expretancy of the residents living in arsenic-polluted area. The second was an excess of the annual medical expenditure of 56.30 yuan/(person-year) for residents living in arsenic-polluted area compared with that of control group. The third included GDP loss of 74.14 yuan/(person-year) and income loss of 64.23 yuan/(person' year) attributed to the health life days of residents in arsenic-polluted area during the period of number of working years. The total economic loss of 3 section mentioned above make the total GDP reduction of about 180.96 yuan/(person-year) and average income loss of about 164.27 yuan/(person-year) including excessive medical costs. Conclusion The analytical method could be applied to the estimation of economic loss of environmental pollution-attributable health impact.