Public Health Considerations of Typical Contaminants at Military Brownfields Sites: Part 2, Estimation of Health Benefits of Brownfield Remediation in Case Studies

This manuscript provides an overview of the health benefit estimates related to Brownfield development as reported in scientific literature. Although available literature provides evidence that there are public health benefits for cancer and non-cancer effects and health risk reduction associated with Brownfield remediation, there is uncertainty due to availability of scant information on numerical estimates of benefits or benchmarks associated with Brownfield cleanups based on risk-based estimates utilizing pre- and post-cleanup site investigation data or epidemiological data or community health data. Based on this limitation, we advocate that the regulatory agencies (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S.) begins to lay the foundation and to establish the infrastructure needed to be able to assess public health implications of Brownfield redevelopment. We also call for funding for research at the local and national level in North America, Europe, and elsewhere that leads to better understanding of the estimates of health benefits and measurable outcomes of community-level public health related to Brownfield cleanups to reduce the knowledge gap in this area and stimulate brownfield development in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.