scholarly journals Contribution from the ten major emission sectors in Europe and Denmark to the health-cost externalities of air pollution using the EVA model system – an integrated modelling approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 7725-7746 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brandt ◽  
J. D. Silver ◽  
J. H. Christensen ◽  
M. S. Andersen ◽  
J. H. Bønløkke ◽  
...  

Abstract. We have developed an integrated model system, EVA (Economic Valuation of Air pollution), based on the impact-pathway chain, to assess the health-related economic externalities of air pollution resulting from specific emission sources or sectors, which can be used to support policy-making with respect to emission control. Central for the system is a newly developed tagging method capable of calculating the contribution from a specific emission source or sector to the overall air pollution levels, taking into account the non-linear atmospheric chemistry. The main objective of this work is to identify the anthropogenic emission sources in Europe and Denmark that contribute the most to human health impacts. In this study, we applied the EVA system to Europe and Denmark, with a detailed analysis of health-related external costs from the ten major emission sectors and their relative contributions. The paper contains a thorough description of the EVA system, the main results from the assessment of the main contributors and a discussion of the most important atmospheric chemical reactions relevant for interpreting the results. The main conclusion from the analysis is that the major contributors to health-related external costs are major power production, agriculture, road traffic, and non-industrial domestic combustion, including wood combustion. We conclude that when regulating the emissions of ammonia from the agricultural sector, both the impacts on nature and on human health should be taken into account. This study confirms that air pollution constitutes a serious problem for human health and that the related external costs are considerable. The results in this work emphasize the importance of defining the right questions in the decision-making process. The results from assessing the impacts from each emission sector depend clearly on the assumption that the other emission sectors are not changed, especially emissions changing concentrations of atmospheric OH and therefore lifetimes of other chemical species.

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 5871-5922 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brandt ◽  
J. D. Silver ◽  
J. H. Christensen ◽  
M. S. Andersen ◽  
J. H. Bønløkke ◽  
...  

Abstract. We have developed an integrated model system, EVA (Economic Valuation of Air pollution), based on the impact-pathway chain, to assess the health-related economic externalities of air pollution resulting from specific emission sources or sectors, which can be used to support policy-making with respect to emission control. Central for the system is a newly developed tagging method capable of calculating the contribution from a specific emission source or sector to the overall air pollution levels, taking into account the non-linear atmospheric chemistry. The main objective of this work is to identify the anthropogenic emission sources in Europe and Denmark that contribute the most to human health impacts using this tagging method. In this study, we applied the EVA system to Europe and Denmark, with a detailed analysis of health-related external costs from the ten major emission sectors and their relative contributions. The paper contains a thorough description of the EVA system, the main results from the assessment of the main contributors and a discussion of the most important atmospheric chemical reactions relevant for interpreting the results. The main conclusion from the analysis of the ten major emission sectors in Europe and Denmark is that the major contributors to health-related external costs are major power production, agriculture, road traffic, and non-industrial domestic combustion, including wood combustion. We conclude that when regulating the emissions of ammonia from the agricultural sector, both the impacts on nature and on human health should be taken into account. This study confirms that air pollution constitutes a serious problem to human health and that the related external costs are considerable. The results in this work emphasize the importance of defining the right questions in the decision making process, since most of the atmospheric chemical compounds are linked via non-linear chemical reactions, which are important to take into account. The results from assessing the impacts from each emission sector depend clearly on the assumption that the other emission sectors are not changed, especially emissions changing concentrations of atmospheric OH and therefore live times of other chemical species.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 7747-7764 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brandt ◽  
J. D. Silver ◽  
J. H. Christensen ◽  
M. S. Andersen ◽  
J. H. Bønløkke ◽  
...  

Abstract. An integrated model system, EVA (Economic Valuation of Air pollution), based on the impact-pathway chain has been developed to assess the health-related economic externalities of air pollution resulting from specific emission sources or sectors. The model system can be used to support policy-making with respect to emission control. In this study, we apply the EVA system to Europe, and perform a more detailed assessment of past, present, and future health-cost externalities of the total air pollution levels in Europe (including both natural and anthropogenic sources), represented by the years 2000, 2007, 2011, and 2020. We also assess the contribution to the health-related external costs from international ship traffic with special attention to the international ship traffic in the Baltic and North seas, since special regulatory actions on sulfur emissions, called SECA (sulfur emission control area), have been introduced in these areas. We conclude that, despite efficient regulatory actions in Europe in recent decades, air pollution still constitutes a serious problem for human health. Hence the related external costs are considerable. The total health-related external costs for the whole of Europe are estimated at 803 bn euros yr−1 for the year 2000, decreasing to 537 bn euros yr−1 in the year 2020. We estimate the total number of premature deaths in Europe in the year 2000 due to air pollution to be around 680 000 yr−1, decreasing to approximately 450 000 in the year 2020. The contribution from international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere was estimated to 7% of the total health-related external costs in Europe in the year 2000, increasing to 12% in the year 2020. In contrast, the contribution from international ship traffic in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea decreases 36% due to the regulatory efforts of reducing sulfur emissions from ship traffic in SECA. Introducing this regulatory instrument for all international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere, or at least in areas close to Europe, would have a significant positive impact on human health in Europe.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 5923-5959 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brandt ◽  
J. D. Silver ◽  
J. H. Christensen ◽  
M. S. Andersen ◽  
J. H. Bønløkke ◽  
...  

Abstract. An integrated model system, EVA (Economic Valuation of Air pollution), based on the impact-pathway chain has been developed, to assess the health-related economic externalities of air pollution resulting from specific emission sources or sectors. The model system can be used to support policy-making with respect to emission control. In this study, we apply the EVA system to Europe, and perform a more detailed assessment of past, present, and future health-cost externalities of the total air pollution levels in Europe (including both natural and anthropogenic sources), represented by the years 2000, 2007, 2011, and 2020. We also assess the contribution to the health-related external costs from international ship traffic with special attention to the international ship traffic in the Baltic and North Seas, since special regulatory actions on sulphur emissions, called SECA (sulphur emission control area), have been introduced in these areas,. We conclude that despite efficient regulatory actions in Europe in recent decades, air pollution still constitutes a serious problem to human health, hence the related external costs are considerable. The total health-related external costs for the whole of Europe is estimated at 803 bn Euro yr−1 for the year 2000, decreasing to 537 bn Euro yr−1 in the year 2020. We estimate the total number of premature deaths in Europe in the year 2000 due to air pollution to be around 680 000 yr−1, decreasing to approximately 450 000 in the year 2020. The contribution from international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere was estimated to 7% of the total health-related external costs in Europe in the year 2000, increasing to 12% in the year 2020. In contrast, the contribution from international ship traffic in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea decreases 36% due to the regulatory efforts of reducing sulphur emissions from ship traffic in SECA. Introducing this regulatory instrument for all international ship traffic in the Northern Hemisphere, or at least in areas close to Europe, would have a significant positive impact on human health in Europe.


Author(s):  
Titik Istirokhatun ◽  
Ita Tetriana Agustini ◽  
Sudarno Sudarno

The  presence  of  air  pollution  in  ambient  air  is  closely  related  to  the incidence  of  adverse reactions affecting human health. One of harmful pollutants and potentially major cause health problems is sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ). The number of vehicles that are passing and queuing on the crossroads  because  of  traffic light can  affect  the  concentration  of  SO 2 .  Besides,  in  these locations  there  are a lot of road users  which  are  potentially  exposed  by  contaminants, so information about the concentration of SO 2  is important to know. This study aimed to investigate the  impact  of  meteorological  factors  and  the  number  of vehicles  on  SO 2   concentrations. Impinger was used for air sampling, and pararosaniline method was used for determining SO 2  concentration. Sampling and calculation  of the number of passing vehicles were performed 3 times ie in the morning, afternoon and evening. Based on the results of the study, the highest concentrations of SO 2  were on the range of 15-21 mg/Nm3.


2017 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 693-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Lelieveld

In atmospheric chemistry, interactions between air pollution, the biosphere and human health, often through reaction mixtures from both natural and anthropogenic sources, are of growing interest. Massive pollution emissions in the Anthropocene have transformed atmospheric composition to the extent that biogeochemical cycles, air quality and climate have changed globally and partly profoundly. It is estimated that mortality attributable to outdoor air pollution amounts to 4.33 million individuals per year, associated with 123 million years of life lost. Worldwide, air pollution is the major environmental risk factor to human health, and strict air quality standards have the potential to strongly reduce morbidity and mortality. Preserving clean air should be considered a human right, and is fundamental to many sustainable development goals of the United Nations, such as good health, climate action, sustainable cities, clean energy, and protecting life on land and in the water. It would be appropriate to adopt “clean air” as a sustainable development goal.


Időjárás ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-646
Author(s):  
Zita Ferenczi ◽  
Emese Homolya ◽  
Krisztina Lázár ◽  
Anita Tóth

An operational air quality forecasting model system has been developed and provides daily forecasts of ozone, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter for the area of Hungary and three big cites of the country (Budapest, Miskolc, and Pécs). The core of the model system is the CHIMERE off-line chemical transport model. The AROME numerical weather prediction model provides the gridded meteorological inputs for the chemical model calculations. The horizontal resolution of the AROME meteorological fields is consistent with the CHIMERE horizontal resolution. The individual forecasted concentrations for the following 2 days are displayed on a public website of the Hungarian Meteorological Service. It is essential to have a quantitative understanding of the uncertainty in model output arising from uncertainties in the input meteorological fields. The main aim of this research is to probe the response of an air quality model to its uncertain meteorological inputs. Ensembles are one method to explore how uncertainty in meteorology affects air pollution concentrations. During the past decades, meteorological ensemble modeling has received extensive research and operational interest because of its ability to better characterize forecast uncertainty. One such ensemble forecast system is the one of the AROME model, which has an 11-member ensemble where each member is perturbed by initial and lateral boundary conditions. In this work we focus on wintertime particulate matter concentrations, since this pollutant is extremely sensitive to near-surface mixing processes. Selecting a number of extreme air pollution situations we will show what the impact of the meteorological uncertainty is on the simulated concentration fields using AROME ensemble members.


2013 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 260-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.W. Smith ◽  
C.J. Axon ◽  
R.C. Darton
Keyword(s):  
The Uk ◽  

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Conti ◽  
P Ferrara ◽  
L S D'Angiolella ◽  
S C Lorelli ◽  
G Agazzi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In 2017, the Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that in Europe 0.42 million deaths and 8.9 million disability-adjusted life years were attributable to air pollution. Monetizing this burden is a key step for estimating benefits of exposure reduction strategies. However, robust and synthetic estimates of direct (e.g. due to hospitalizations or medications) and indirect (e.g. due to premature mortality or loss of productivity) health-related costs of air pollution seem to be still lacking. We carried out a systematic review, aimed at identifying evidence from research in Europe. Methods We searched 5 electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, Web Of Science) in which we applied algorithms tracing keywords such as “cost of illness”, “health care costs”, “economics” and synonyms, together with “air pollution” and synonyms. We limited our search to articles written in English and Italian, without date restriction. Results The initial search retrieved 2420 records. 200 were classified as relevant, and 38 fulfilled inclusion criteria. Most of them (68%) were published after 2010. 26% were multi-country studies, while the remaining focused on a single country or city. Investigated pollutants were usually particulate matter (79% of the studies) and nitrogen oxides (37%). The approaches to the economic analysis were heterogeneous: estimates could include direct and/or indirect costs. Among the studies, the most comprehensive one (12 countries) estimated that complying with WHO guidelines would avert €31 billion yearly, of which €19 million due to hospitalizations. Conclusions Over the last decade, progress has been made in evaluating the economic burden of air pollution. However, estimates based on indirect costs are affected by high levels of uncertainty, while those based on direct costs are more robust and should be further investigated, since they are crucial information for healthcare policy makers. Key messages Air pollution poses a high economic burden on European countries, mainly due to social costs. More attention should be devoted to estimating direct healthcare costs of air pollution, in order to properly inform policy makers about the impact on healthcare systems.


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