Human health benefits of ambient sulfate aerosol reductions under Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments

The Acid Rain Provisions (Title IV) of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 call for about a 10 million ton reduction in annual SO{sub 2} emissions in the United States by the year 2010. Although the provisions apply nationwide, most of the reduction will take place in the eastern half of the United States, where use of high sulfur coal for electricity generation is most common. One potentially large benefit of Title IV is the expected reduction in adverse human health effects associated with exposure to ambient sulfate aerosols, a secondary pollutant formed in the atmosphere when SO{sub 2} is present. Sulfate aerosols are a significant constituent of fine particulate (PM{sub 2.5}). This paper combines available epidemiologic evidence of health effects associated with sulfate aerosols and economic estimates of willingness to pay for reductions in risks or incidence of health effects with available estimates of the difference between expected ambient sulfate concentrations in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada with and without Title IV to estimate the expected health benefits of Title IV. The results suggest a mean annual benefit in the eastern United States of $10.6 billion (in 1994 dollars) in 1997 and $40.0 billion in 2010,more » with an additional $1 billion benefit each year in Ontario and Quebec provinces.« less