Spatial and temporal trends in the mortality burden of air pollution in China: 2004-2012

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Miaomiao liu, Nanjing University; Yining Huang, Nanjing University; Zongwei Ma, Nanjing University; Zhou Jin, Nanjing University; Haikun Wang, Nanjing University; Yang Liu, Emory University; Jinnan Wang, Nanjing University; Matti Jantunen, National Institute for Health and Welfare; Jun Bi, Nanjing University; Patrick L. Kinney, Columbia University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-01-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.10.003
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environment International
• ISSN: 0160-4120
• Volume: 98
• Start Page: 75
• End Page: 81
• Grant/Funding Information: The work of M. Liu was also supported by China Scholarship Council (CSC) under the State Scholarship Fund.; The work of P. Kinney was partially supported by NIEHS grant P30ES009089. The work of Y. Liu was partially supported by the NASA Applied Sciences Program (grants NNX11AI53G and NNX14AG01G, Principal Investigator: Liu).; The study was supported by Natural Sciences Foundation of China (71433007), Jiangsu Science and Technology Support Program (SBE2014070918), Collaborative Innovation Center for Regional Environmental Quality, and Collaborative Innovation Center for Atmospheric Environment and Equipment.
• Keywords: Environmental Sciences; COHORT; LIFE EXPECTANCY; CITIES; Health burden; Air pollution; GLOBAL BURDEN; EMISSIONS; Spatial; PARTICULATE MATTER POLLUTION; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; China; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; DISEASE; Temporal; PM2.5; LONG-TERM EXPOSURE; Science & Technology; HEALTH
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences; Geography; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

While recent assessments have quantified the burden of air pollution at the national scale in China, air quality managers would benefit from assessments that disaggregate health impacts over regions and over time. We took advantage of a new 10 × 10 km satellite-based PM 2.5 dataset to analyze spatial and temporal trends of air pollution health impacts in China, from 2004 to 2012. Results showed that national PM 2.5 related deaths from stroke, ischemic heart disease and lung cancer increased from approximately 800,000 cases in 2004 to over 1.2 million cases in 2012. The health burden exhibited strong spatial variations, with high attributable deaths concentrated in regions including the Beijing–Tianjin Metropolitan Region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Sichuan Basin, Shandong, Wuhan Metropolitan Region, Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan, Henan, and Anhui, which have heavy air pollution, high population density, or both. Increasing trends were found in most provinces, but with varied growth rates. While there was some evidence for improving air quality in recent years, this was offset somewhat by the countervailing influences of in–migration together with population growth. We recommend that priority areas for future national air pollution control policies be adjusted to better reflect the spatial hotspots of health burdens. Satellite-based exposure and health impact assessments can be a useful tool for tracking progress on both air quality and population health burden reductions.