The Impacts of Water and Air Quality Non-compliance on Lung and Bronchus Cancer Incidence: A Spatial Panel Data Analysis

This study applies a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to examine the impact of population-level exposure to environmental quality standards non-compliance on lung and bronchus cancer incidence. The data utilized were from 2006 to 2016 from 48 contiguous U.S. and Washington D.C. The SDM reveals statistically significant impacts of population-level exposures to violations of both drinking water and air quality standards on lung and bronchus cancer incidence. These impacts are not robust with the inclusion of household income in the model and are small relative to other factors, like smoking behavior. Example calculations show that a 10% reduction in the population exposure rate to drinking water quality violations across the state of Oklahoma results in a decrease of four cancer cases annually, with an estimated annual monetary benefit of $16.49 million. A 10% reduction in population exposure to air quality violations in the state of Utah results in nine fewer cancer cases annually, with a $37.11 million annual monetary benefit in Utah and three neighboring states. These results demonstrate the need to improve compliance with drinking water and air quality standards. Racial and/or ethnic disparity in cancer incidence with violations also arises from our results. Given that environmental quality non-compliance occurs more frequently in racial minority communities, environmental justice issues are associated with improved environmental compliance.