Protecting China's children: valuing the health impacts of reduced air pollution in Chinese cities

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 745-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT W. MEAD ◽  
VICTOR BRAJER
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Child Morbidity ◽  
Hospital Visits

As China advances its overall program of economic development, many Chinese cities consistently suffer from unhealthy levels of air pollution. One of the groups most affected is children. This paper provides some quantification regarding the extent of various morbidity costs upon children in portions of urban China. Using China-based health-effects and valuation studies, the authors project, and value in dollar figures, the number of averted cases of childhood colds, bronchitis, asthma, and respiratory-related hospital visits resulting from a lowering of air pollution levels. The results indicate that these child morbidity benefits may be substantial, with a mid-range value of nearly $3.5 billion over the period 2002–2011.

Ambient carbon monoxide and daily mortality in three Chinese cities: The China Air Pollution and Health Effects Study (CAPES)

2011 ◽  
Vol 409 (23) ◽  
pp. 4923-4928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renjie Chen ◽  
Guowei Pan ◽  
Yanping Zhang ◽  
Qun Xu ◽  
Guang Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Daily Mortality ◽  
Chinese Cities

How harmful is air pollution to economic development? New evidence from PM2.5 concentrations of Chinese cities

2018 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 743-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Hao ◽  
Hui Peng ◽  
T. Temulun ◽  
Li-Qun Liu ◽  
Jie Mao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
New Evidence

scholarly journals Threshold Effects of PM2.5 Exposure on Particle-Related Mortality in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tran ◽  
Chang ◽  
Hsu ◽  
Chen ◽  
Tseng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Cardiovascular Mortality ◽  
Threshold Effect ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Threshold Effects ◽  
Coal Consumption ◽  
Pm2.5 Exposure ◽  
Related Mortality

Ambient air pollution from energy use and other sources is a major environmental risk factor in the incidence and progression of serious diseases, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This study elucidates the health effects of energy consumption from air pollution in China based on multiple threshold effects of the population-weighted exposure to PM2.5 (fine particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter) on particle-related mortality rate. We firstly estimate the causal relationship between coal consumption and PM2.5 in China for 2004–2010 using a panel regression model. Panel threshold models are applied to access the non-linear relationships between PM2.5 and cause-specific mortality rates that indicate the health effects are dependent on the PM2.5 ranges. By combining these steps, we calculate the health impacts of coal consumption based on threshold effects of PM2.5. We find that a 1% coal consumption increase induces a 0.23% increase in PM2.5. A triple threshold effect is found between PM2.5 and cardiovascular mortality; for example, increasing PM2.5 exposure causes cardiovascular mortality rate to increase when PM2.5 lies in 17.7–21.6 μg/m3 and 21.6–34.3 μg/m3, with the estimated increments being 0.81% and 0.26%, respectively, corresponding to 1% PM2.5 increase. A single threshold effect of SO2 on respiratory mortality rate is identified and allows the estimation of the mortality effects of PM2.5 regarding the two regimes of SO2. Finally, we access the health impacts of coal consumption under specific estimated thresholds. This study provides a better understanding of sources contributing to related-air pollution mortality. The multi-threshold effect of PM2.5 could be considered for further applications in harmonizing emission standards in China and other developing countries.

scholarly journals Population Response to Air Pollution and the Risk of Coronavirus Disease in Chinese Cities during the Early Pandemic Period

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2248
Author(s):  
Miryoung Yoon ◽  
Jong-Hun Kim ◽  
Jisun Sung ◽  
Ah-Young Lim ◽  
Myung-Jae Hwang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Relative Risk ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Chinese Cities ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Critical Measure

Health behavior is a critical measure in controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We estimated the effect of health behaviors against air pollution on reducing the risk of COVID-19 during the initial phase of the pandemic. The attack rates of COVID-19 in 159 mainland Chinese cities during the first 2 weeks after the closure of major cities was estimated; air pollution level as a surrogate indicator of the mask-wearing rate. Data on air pollution levels and meteorologic factors 2 weeks prior to the closure were obtained. The attack rate was compared with the level of air pollution using a generalized linear model after adjusting for confounders. When fine particulates (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels increased by one unit of air quality index (AQI), the infection risk decreased by 0.7% and 3.4%, respectively. When PM2.5 levels exceeded 150 (level 4), the infection risk decreased (relative risk, RR = 0.635, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.442 to 0.912 for level 4; RR = 0.529, 95% CI: 0.337 to 0.830 for level 5; respectively). After controlling for the number of high-speed railway routes, when PM2.5 and NO2 levels increased by one AQI, relative risk for PM2.5 and NO2 was 0.990 (95% CI, 0.984 to 0.997) and 0.946 (95% CI, 0.911 to 0.982), respectively, demonstrating a consistently negative association. It is postulated that, during the early phase of the pandemic, the cities with higher air pollution levels may represent the higher practice of mask-wearing to protect from air pollution, which could have acted as a barrier to the transmission of the virus. This study highlights the importance of health behaviors, including mask-wearing for preventing infections.

scholarly journals Covid-19 Lockdown in Spring 2020 in France Provided Unexpected Opportunity to Assess Health Impacts of Falls in Air Pollution

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Adélaïde ◽  
Sylvia Medina ◽  
Vérène Wagner ◽  
Perrine de Crouy-Chanel ◽  
Elsa Real ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Significant Risk Factor ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Health Impacts ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Pollution Levels

Lockdown measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 in France in spring 2020 sharply reduced activities and lowered air-pollution concentrations. This study sought to determine the short- and long-term impacts on mortality in metropolitan France resulting from the temporary decrease in the population's exposure to air pollution. The reduction in exposure to air pollution was estimated by calculating the difference between modeled exposure of the population during the strict lockdown and the gradual lifting, and the simulated exposure that would have been observed in the absence of lockdown. A quantitative health impact assessment was used to estimate both the short-term impact of PM10 and NO2 reductions, and the long-term impact of PM2.5 and NO2 reductions on mortality. Reduced activities during the lockdown lowered NO2 and PM concentrations, resulting in about 2,300 deaths postponed for PM2.5 and nearly 1,200 for NO2, mainly due to avoided long-term effects. This study shows that, even in an unprecedented context that is certainly neither realistic nor desirable to improve air quality in the long run, public interventions appear to have a significant impact on health through reductions in air-pollution levels. In a long-term perspective, the study also reminds us that the total burden of air pollution on health remains a significant risk factor in France. Efforts to reduce ambient air pollution must thus be pursued sustainably for all sources of air pollution with suitably adapted but ambitious policies. Finally, the lockdown restrictions had other consequences, both positive and negative, on the population's health. These consequences highlight the need to conduct more integrated assessments of health impacts that include the multisectoral consequences of interventions, particularly in terms of population compliance with mitigating restrictions, behavior and mental health and, more broadly, climate change.

scholarly journals A New Era of Pollution Progress in Urban China?

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siqi Zheng ◽  
Matthew E. Kahn
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Environmental Amenities ◽  
New Era ◽  
Improve Energy Efficiency ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Real Estate Prices ◽  
Surprising Finding ◽  
China’S Economy

Over the last 30 years, China's economy has boomed. This trend has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty but it has also sharply increased local, regional, and global pollution levels. We look at the rise in air pollution over recent decades, and the perhaps surprising finding that in many of China's urban areas, levels of particulates (of less than 10 microns) have been decreasing during the last 10 to 15 years. We then turn to the costs and tradeoffs of air pollution, including costs to human health, reductions in worker productivity, and how people are seeking to reduce their exposure to pollution as shown by compensating differentials in real estate prices and purchases of masks and air filters. We discuss how rising incomes tend to raise the demand for environmental amenities and thus increase political pressure for environmental protection, and then we turn to the policy tools that China has used to reduce pollution. We conclude by arguing that as China's government is preparing for an additional 300 million people to move to urban areas over the next 30 years, it will have a number of opportunities for China to reduce pollution through a shift from manufacturing to services, along with various steps to improve energy efficiency and resource conservation. Overall, it seems that China is on track to improve its environmental performance in the years ahead.

Health effects associated with Madrid air pollution levels

1999 ◽  
Vol 235 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 395-396
Author(s):  
Antonio Doadrio ◽  
Andrés Monzón ◽  
Amparo Moragues ◽  
Marı́a-José Presas
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Pollution Levels
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