Valesor: a tool for assessing the economic impact of pollution on health

The European Valesor project, led by the University of Angers, has just been completed. The project has produced an online tool that enables users to visualise the societal and individual costs of exposure to health-affecting chemicals and air pollution, and to simulate the benefits of specific reduction measures. This innovation is intended to inform public debate and future policy decisions.
Gildas Appéré, Professor of Economics at the University of Angers and project coordinator, explains.

The Valesor project (Valuation of environmental stressors) was launched on 1 January 2023 for a period of three years.

What were its objectives? 

Gildas Appéré: Broadly speaking, the aim was to assess the health and economic impact of public exposure to chemicals and air pollution, and more specifically to provide a cost-benefit analysis of potential measures to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals and air pollution. To do this, we brought together a multidisciplinary team of around forty members, including economists, doctors, epidemiologists, toxicologists and environmental scientists. In total, twelve partners were involved, including five in France – notably the Universities of Angers and Nantes, the École des Mines de Paris and Ineris, as well as specialists in Sweden, Norway, Serbia, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Although assessment tools for air pollution already existed, particularly in the US (BenMAP), very few were available for exposure to chemicals. One of Valesor’s key contributions was to provide data in this area. Epidemiologists have drawn on the wealth of existing literature to match various chemical substances (PFAS, pesticides, heavy metals, etc.) with their scientifically proven health consequences. This work of synthesising the scientific literature has already succeeded in highlighting certain issues that had previously been overlooked. While we knew that poor air quality affected asthma and lung cancer, it may also be linked to an increased risk of dementia. For example, certain chemicals, such as lead, mercury and PFAS, have been shown to increase the incidence of cognitive and attention deficit disorders.

Economists then translate this into monetary terms. How much does a particular disease cost society in terms of treatment, lost productivity, and lost income? Added to these costs are losses in individual well-being linked to suffering, stress, and the impact on family and social life. These are assessed through the concept of individuals’ willingness to pay to reduce the risk of developing these diseases.

So there’s a lot of disparate data that is difficult to analyse...

Gildas Appéré: Yes, Valesor's most notable achievement has been to make this information accessible thanks to an online tool which allows users to see the impact of specific types of pollution on health and morbidity in European countries both within and outside the European Union. The tool also enables users to explore ways of reducing pollution and illustrates how policies in this area affect diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes, as well as diseases suspected to be linked to exposure to certain chemicals and air pollution.

The tool also allows users to visualise the economic implications and associated costs.

Who is this simulator intended for?

Gildas Appéré: It is not a tool for the general public, as there is a learning curve involved; users need to be somewhat familiar with data exploration and know what they are looking for. It is therefore aimed more at researchers and organisations working on these issues, whether they are associations keen to see the impact of a particular scenario, or, of course, public decision-makers. In particular, it could provide valuable insights for European bodies, which have set themselves the goal of achieving "zero pollution" by 2030.

Go to the Valesor online simulator

The Valesor project is one of five European projects that link environment and health. These projects form part of the Meteor research cluster, the final results of which will be presented in Brussels at the end of November 2026.