ANN ARBOR–Childhood lead exposure costs Michigan residents an estimated $330 million annually, and a statewide remediation program to eliminate the source of most lead poisoning would pay for itself in three years, according to a new report.
"Economic Impacts of Lead Exposure and Remediation in Michigan," compares the cost of four well-documented impacts of lead exposure--increased health care, increased crime, increase in special education, and decline in lifetime earnings--with the cost of lead abatement of high-risk homes.