Estimated cost burden of EDC exposure 'staggering' in EU, translates to US

SAN DIEGO — Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals could cost the European Union as much as €157 billion, or $209 billion, per year in health care expenses and lost earnings potential, according to research presented here.

The estimates from the economic analysis, published as series of studies in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and presented simultaneously today at a press event in Brussels, are conservative, according to researchers.

“It’s important to emphasize the narrow subportion of the actual costs that this estimate represents,” researcher Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, of the department of pediatrics, environmental medicine and population health, NYU Langone Medical Center, said during a press conference. “We examined less than 5% of EDCs, we examined only a subset of conditions linked to those EDCs, and we only examined a subset of economic costs.”

The estimate corresponds to 1.23% of Europe’s gross domestic product (GDP). Exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) could actually cost as much as €270 billion, or $359 billion, representing 2% of Europe’s GDP, according to researchers.

Global EDC experts were convened to adapt existing environmental health cost models, based on the Institute of Medicine’s 1981 approach to assessing how environmental factors contribute to illness, to calculate the estimated cost burden of EDCs.

The investigators evaluated the likelihood of EDCs contributing to a variety of conditions and dysfunctions, limiting the analysis to disorders with the strongest scientific evidence.

Direct costs of hospital stays, physician services, nursing home care and other medical costs were considered, along with estimates of indirect costs, including lost employee productivity, early death and disability.

“We’ve identified 13 chronic conditions strong scientific evidence for causation,” Trasande said.

Infertility and male reproductive dysfunctions, birth defects, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurobehavioral and learning disorders can be partly attributed to EDC exposure, the experts concluded.

Loss of IQ and intellectual disabilities due to prenatal exposure to pesticides with organophosphates represented the biggest cost driver, with approximately 13 million lost IQ points and 59,300 additional cases of intellectual disability per year attributable. Harm done to unborn children could cost society an estimated €46.8 billion to €195 billion a year.

Obesity among adults associated with phthalate exposure was the second-highest driver, with estimated costs of €15.6 billion per year.

Although the analysis was specific to the E.U., the magnitude of disease and cost burden of EDC exposure would likely translate to the U.S. and other areas around the globe.

“Our findings support careful regulation as part of the strategic approach to international chemicals management,” Trasande said. “Limiting exposure to the most widely used and potentially hazardous EDCs is likely to produce substantial economic benefit.” – by Allegra Tiver

Reference:

Trasande L. S65-2. Presented at: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting; March 5-8, 2015, San Diego.
Disclosure: Trasande reports no relevant financial disclosures.