Dataset Information

Stronger policy required to substantially reduce deaths from PM2.5 pollution in China.

ABSTRACT: Air pollution kills nearly 1 million people per year in China. In response, the Chinese government implemented the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) from 2013 to 2017 which had a significant impact on reducing PM2.5 concentration. However, the health benefits of the APPCAP are not well understood. Here we examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of annual deaths attributable to PM2.5 pollution (DAPP) in China and the contribution from the APPCAP using decomposition analysis. Despite a 36.1% increase in DAPP from 2000 to 2017, The APPCAP-induced improvement in air quality achieved substantial health benefits, with the DAPP in 2017 reduced by 64 thousand (6.8%) compared to 2013. However, the policy is unlikely to result in further major reductions in DAPP and more ambitious policies are required to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 2030 and meet the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 3.

SUBMITTER: Yue H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7081205 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Stronger policy required to substantially reduce deaths from PM2.5 pollution in China.

Yue Huanbi H He Chunyang C Huang Qingxu Q Yin Dan D Bryan Brett A BA

Nature communications 20200319 1

Air pollution kills nearly 1 million people per year in China. In response, the Chinese government implemented the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) from 2013 to 2017 which had a significant impact on reducing PM2.5 concentration. However, the health benefits of the APPCAP are not well understood. Here we examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of annual deaths attributable to PM2.5 pollution (DAPP) in China and the contribution from the APPCAP using dec ...[more]

PMID: 32193475

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundAir pollution is the greatest environmental threat to human health in the world today and is responsible for an estimated 7-9 million deaths annually. One of the most damaging air pollutants is PM2.5 pollution, fine airborne particulate matter under 2.5 microns in diameter. Exposure to PM2.5 pollution can cause premature death, heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, diabetes, asthma, low birthweight, and IQ loss. To avoid these adverse health effects, the WHO recommends that PM2.5 levels not exceed 5 μg/m3.MethodsThis study estimates the negative health impacts of PM2.5 pollution in Texas in 2016. Local exposure estimates were calculated at the census tract level using the EPA's BenMAP-CE software. In BenMAP, a variety of exposure-response functions combine air pollution exposure data with population data and county-level disease and death data to estimate the number of health effects attributable to PM2.5 pollution for each census tract. The health effects investigated were mortality, low birthweight, stroke, new onset asthma, new onset Alzheimer's, and non-fatal lung cancer.FindingsThis study found that approximately 26.7 million (98.9%) of the 27.0 million people living in Texas in 2016 resided in areas where PM2.5 concentrations were above the WHO recommendation of 5 μg/m3, and that 2.6 million people (9.8%) lived in areas where the average PM2.5 concentration exceeded 10 μg/m3. This study estimates that there were 8,405 (confidence interval [CI], 5,674-11,033) premature deaths due to PM2.5 pollution in Texas in 2016, comprising 4.3% of all deaths. Statewide increases in air-pollution-related morbidity and mortality were seen for stroke (2,209 - CI: [576, 3,776]), low birthweight (2,841 - CI: [1,696, 3,925]), non-fatal lung cancers (636 - CI: [219, 980]), new onset Alzheimer's disease (24,575 - CI: [20,800, 27,540]), and new onset asthma (7,823 - CI: [7,557, 8,079]).ConclusionThis study found that air pollution poses significant risks to the health of Texans, despite the fact that pollution levels across most of the state comply with the EPA standard for PM2.5 pollution of 12 μg/m3. Improving air quality in Texas could save thousands of lives from disease, disability, and premature death.

Dataset Information

Stronger policy required to substantially reduce deaths from PM2.5 pollution in China.

Publications

Stronger policy required to substantially reduce deaths from PM<sub>2.5</sub> pollution in China.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets