Reports

Exposure to chemicals has been shown to reduce IQ in children. In turn, a person’s IQ is likely to affect their educational achievements, which may then affect lifetime earnings, more generally, a person’s quality of life. At the same time, authorities face challenges in regulating chemical substances through actions such as bans and prohibitions, because of the difficulty in explicitly considering the economic benefits and costs of such regulations. Moreover, economic studies that show the value of reducing IQ loss caused by chemical exposure are not yet available. This paper is part of the series of large scale willingness to pay (WTP) studies resulting from the Surveys to elicit Willingness to pay to Avoid Chemicals related negative Health Effects (SWACHE) project that intends to improve the basis for doing cost benefit analyses of chemicals management options and environmental policies in general. The present paper details a stated preference survey estimating WTP to avoid IQ loss, filling an important gap in the valuation literature and addressing a need for applied benefits analysis for chemicals regulation. The SWACHE IQ loss survey was fielded in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Asthma is a non-communicable and non-curable lung disease that is associated with an array of environmental contaminants and chemicals. Many of these hazards are subject to regulation, or may be considered for regulation, in order to reduce exposures and prevent human health risks. However, the available information on willingness-to-pay (WTP) to avoid asthma or reduce its severity is scarce, incomplete and does not provide estimates compatible with welfare economic theory that can be used in cost-benefit analysis. This paper is part of the series of large scale willingness to pay (WTP) studies resulting from the Surveys to elicit Willingness to pay to Avoid Chemicals related negative Health Effects (SWACHE) project that intends to improve the basis for doing cost-benefit analyses of chemicals management options and environmental policies in general. The present paper offers values suitable for use in cost-benefit analyses of the WTP for reduced severity of asthma attacks in adults and children and in reduced probability of getting asthma for these two population groups, all in the context of reducing chemical exposures, and covering populations in seven OECD countries: Canada, Czech Republic, France, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The context for such WTP elicitations was a set of household products that contain fewer hazardous chemicals than what is currently available in supermarkets but are more expensive.

There is ample evidence that exposure to various chemicals can increase the probability of children to be born with low or very low birth weight. Infants born with very low birth weight have a higher risk of suffering from neurosensory problems, issues related to behavioural and social competencies, and learning disabilities than infants born with normal birth weight. Authorities face challenges in regulating chemical substances through actions such as bans and prohibitions, because of the difficulty in explicitly considering the economic benefits and costs of such regulations. Moreover, existing Values of a Statistical Case (VSC) of very low birth weight are rare and cannot be directly applied to the cost benefit analysis of chemical management options for a wide range of countries. This paper is part of the series of large scale willingness to pay (WTP) studies resulting from the Surveys to elicit Willingness to pay to Avoid Chemicals related negative Health Effects (SWACHE) project that intends to improve the basis for doing cost benefit analyses of chemicals management options and environmental policies in general. The present paper details a stated preference survey estimating WTP to reduce the risk of very low birth weight, filling an important gap in the valuation literature and addressing a need for applied benefits analysis for chemicals regulation. The SWACHE very low birth weight survey was fielded in 9 countries: Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

While fertility decline is a global phenomenon that has many causes, part of it can be explained by exposure to substances linked to reproductive toxicity that are produced and lead to human exposure through the environment and products. Authorities face challenges in regulating reprotoxic substances through actions such as bans and prohibitions, because of the difficulty in explicitly considering the economic benefits and costs of such regulations. Moreover, economic studies that show the value of reducing infertility caused by chemical exposure are not yet available. This paper is part of the series of large scale willingness to pay (WTP) studies resulting from the Surveys to elicit Willingness to pay to Avoid Chemicals related negative Health Effects (SWACHE) project that intends to improve the basis for doing cost benefit analyses of chemicals management options and environmental policies in general. The present paper details a stated preference survey estimating WTP to reduce the risk of infertility, filling an important gap in the valuation literature and addressing a need for applied benefits analysis for chemicals regulation. The SWACHE infertility survey was fielded in 10 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkage between Deiodinase 2 inhibition and increased mortality via reduced posterior swim bladder inflation. The swim bladder is a gas-filled organ found in many bony fish species and typically consists of two gas-filled chambers. The posterior chamber inflates during early development (embryo), while the anterior chamber inflates during late development (larva). Both chambers are important for fish to control buoyancy and the anterior chamber has an additional role in hearing. This AOP is part of a network of 5 AOPs describing how disruption of the thyroid hormone system can affect developmental processes involved in swim bladder inflation. The network includes three molecular initiating events representing the inhibition of enzymes that are important for thyroid hormone synthesis and activation. It describes how inhibition of thyroperoxidase and/or deiodinase, leads to reduced swim bladder inflation, resulting in reduced swimming performance, increased mortality and ultimately, decreased population trajectory in fish. This AOP network is currently mainly based on experimental evidence from studies on fish species with a two-chambered swim bladder. This AOP is referred to as AOP 155 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkages between the perturbation of the normal topoisomerase II enzyme function and infant leukaemia. Infant leukaemia is a rare haematological disease (1 in 106 newborns, accounting for 10% of all childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemias) of developmental origin, manifesting soon after birth (< 1 year old). The present AOP describes how interference of stressors with DNA topoisomerase II enzyme can possibly result in DNA double-strand break and chromosomal rearrangement during intrauterine development and lead to infant leukaemia, manifesting soon after birth. The proposed AOP is supported by a number of evidences by means of using etoposide as a model compound to empirically support the linkage between the proposed molecular initiating event and the adverse outcome. This AOP also identifies several knowledge gaps, the main ones being the identification of the initiating cell and the investigation of TopoII poisons in a robust model; thus, the present AOP may be modified in future on the basis of new evidence. This AOP is referred to as AOP 202 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkage between Deiodinase 1 inhibition and increased mortality via reduced posterior swim bladder inflation. The swim bladder is a gas-filled organ found in many bony fish species and typically consists of two gas-filled chambers. The posterior chamber inflates during early development (embryo), while the anterior chamber inflates during late development (larva). Both chambers are important for fish to control buoyancy and the anterior chamber has an additional role in hearing. This AOP is part of a network of 5 AOPs describing how disruption of the thyroid hormone system can affect developmental processes involved in swim bladder inflation. The network includes three molecular initiating events representing the inhibition of enzymes that are important for thyroid hormone synthesis and activation. It describes how inhibition of thyroperoxidase and/or deiodinase, leads to reduced swim bladder inflation, resulting in reduced swimming performance, increased mortality and ultimately, decreased population trajectory in fish. This AOP network is currently mainly based on experimental evidence from studies on fish species with a two-chambered swim bladder. This AOP is referred to as AOP 157 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkage between Deiodinase 2 inhibition and increased mortality via reduced anterior swim bladder inflation. The swim bladder is a gas-filled organ found in many bony fish species and typically consists of two gas-filled chambers. The posterior chamber inflates during early development (embryo), while the anterior chamber inflates during late development (larva). Both chambers are important for fish to control buoyancy and the anterior chamber has an additional role in hearing. This AOP is part of a network of 5 AOPs describing how disruption of the thyroid hormone system can affect developmental processes involved in swim bladder inflation. The network includes three molecular initiating events representing the inhibition of enzymes that are important for thyroid hormone synthesis and activation. It describes how inhibition of thyroperoxidase and/or deiodinase, leads to reduced swim bladder inflation, resulting in reduced swimming performance, increased mortality and ultimately, decreased population trajectory in fish. This AOP network is currently mainly based on experimental evidence from studies on fish species with a two-chambered swim bladder. This AOP is referred to as AOP 156 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

This Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) describes the linkage between uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and growth inhibition via decreased cell proliferation. The mitochondrial OXPHOS machinery is a key physiological process responsible for producing the primary cellular energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Uncoupling of OXPHOS is a well-known mechanism of action of many chemicals and can affect many ATP-dependent biological functions. Cell proliferation in particular, as a major process to achieve organismal growth, is positively correlated with the cellular ATP level and highly susceptible to energy depletion. This AOP causally links uncoupling of OXPHOS to growth inhibition, through ATP depletion and reduced cell proliferation with strong weight of evidence support. This AOP is of high regulatory relevance, as it is considered applicable to both human health and ecological risk assessments. The AOP also forms the core of a larger AOP network addressing uncoupling of OXPHOS mediated growth inhibition. This AOP is referred to as AOP 263 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).