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Arthur T Knackerbracket suggests the following story:

The effects of air pollution cost France some 100 billion euros ($110.1 billion) each year, a French Senate committee report estimated Wednesday, 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 the financial impact of atmospheric pollution for health reasons at "between 68 and 97 billion euros" per year, ranging from treatment of aggravated conditions like asthma to battling forms of cancer caused by smog.

It pegged the direct cost to France's health care system at least three billion euros per year. The remainder of the linked cost is largely attributed to time and productivity lost by businesses whose employees require sick leave during peak pollution periods.

Outlays for non-health reasons like lower crop production and the cleaning of blackened buildings were estimated at 4.3 billion euros.