Blighted lives

The damage done to children by pollution costs the US economy almost $55 billion each year, according to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. A team there conducted the first ever assessment of the cost of children’s diseases caused by environmental poisons, in terms of immediate and long-term medical care, special schooling and diminished earning capacity. The researchers say the high cost highlights the massive impact pollution has on healthcare compared to the money spent researching, tracking and preventing the childhood diseases it causes.