The effects of air pollution cost France some 100 billion euros ($110.1 billion) each year, a French Senate committee report estimated, citing impact to health as the major expense.
The study said air pollution is not merely a health threat, but also represents “an economic aberration” costing the French state and businesses billions annually in treating illness, and financing employee sick leave, lost productivity, reduced agriculture yields and cleaning up sooty buildings and other venues.
It estimated financial impact of pollution for health reasons at ‘between 68 and 97 billion euros’ per year, ranging from treatment of conditions like asthma to battling forms of cancer caused by smog.