Unveiling the health impacts of air pollution transport in China
Dian Ding, Yueqi Jiang, Shuxiao Wang, Jia Xing, Zhaoxin Dong, Jiming Hao, Pauli Paasonen
Abstract
The transport of atmospheric pollutants plays a pivotal role in regional air pollution, highlighting critical concerns over the unequal health outcomes that arise from such transport. While previous researches predominantly focused on key areas in the battle against air pollution, the intensification of control measures necessitates a national perspective to comprehend the health impacts due to pollution transport. Our study establishes an integrated assessment framework that combine an emission-concentration response surface model with a health impact evaluation model to analyse the nationwide health impacts of PM 2.5 and O 3 pollution transport across China’s 31 provinces. We found that, interprovincial transport of PM 2.5 and O 3 contributed to 747,000 and 110,000 deaths respectively in 2017, which amounts to 38% and 48% of deaths caused by total anthropogenic emissions. North, East, and Central China together contribute 82% and 69% to the health impacts caused by regional PM 2.5 and O 3 transport respectively, and the transport among these three regions is also significant. The analysis of interprovincial health impact transport shows that, for PM 2.5 , the top contributors are Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, with the most affected being Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Guangdong. Regarding O 3 , Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, and Anhui contribute the most, while Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Anhui are the most affected. This study can shed lights on regional control strategies by prioritizing control areas based on the health impact of air pollution transport in China.