The Air Quality and Economic Impact of Atmospheric Lead from General Aviation Aircraft in the United States

Abstract:

While leaded fuels for automobiles were phased-out of use in the United States by 1996, lead (Pb) continues to be used as an anti-knock additive for piston-driven aircraft. We model the annual concentration of atmospheric lead attributable to piston driven aircraft emissions in the continental United States using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Using aircraft emissions inventories for 2008, we then calculate annual economic damages from lead as lifetime employment losses for a one-year cohort exposed to elevated atmospheric lead concentrations using a range of concentration response functions from literature. Mean and median estimates of annual damages attributable to lifetime lost earnings are $1.06 and $0.60 billion respectively. Economy-wide impacts of IQ-deficits on productivity and labor increase expected damages by 54%. Damages are sensitive to background lead concentrations; as emissions decrease from other sources, the damages attributable to aviation are expected to increase holding aviation emissions constant. The monetary impact of General Aviation lead emissions on the environment is the same order of magnitude as noise, climate change, and air quality degradation from all commercial operations.