Health loss attributed to PM2.5 pollution in China's cities: Economic impact, annual change and reduction potential.

Abstract Ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) has long been the primary air pollutant with alarming public health risk in China. PM 2.5 pollution control in China still mainly concerned concentration declining. The qualification and identification of PM 2.5 -attributable health loss is crucial for China's air quality improvement and pollution prevention. This study assessed the annual health loss and economic impact attributed to PM 2.5 exposure at a city level in China from 2015 to 2017. The health benefits from achieving specific PM 2.5 concentration control targets were estimated for 2020. The economic value of health loss in China was 3205.05, 3223.51, and 3344.80 billion Yuan in 2015, 2016, and 2017, representing 4.34%, 4.07%, and 3.85% of the gross domestic product of China. The health loss value in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) and surrounding areas and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration in 2017 was 731.93 and 520.27 billion Yuan, accounting for 21.88% and 15.56%, respectively, of the total economic value of all assessed cities. The economic value of health loss in provincial cities was high. From 2015 to 2017, high health loss in BTH and surrounding areas showed a diffusion trend toward cities in Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi Provinces. High health loss in the YRD urban agglomeration transferred to cities located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. If PM 2.5 concentration control targets can be achieved by 2020, premature mortality attributed to PM 2.5 exposure will fall by 91,860 cases, representing 11.20% of which in 2017. This study, for the first time, highlighted the spatial distribution and temporal variation characteristics of health loss in Chinese cities based on ground-monitoring PM 2.5 concentration data and annual real-time population data. Distributional feature and time-trend analysis would provide a measurable assessment of health loss in Chinese cities to policymakers for effective allocating their efforts on air quality improvement. Graphical abstract Economic value of public health loss attributed to PM 2.5 exposure at the city level in 2017. Image 1 Highlights • We assessed the annual health loss and economic impact of PM 2.5 exposure in China. • We used PM 2.5 and population data (2015–2017) of prefecture-level cities or above. • Health loss declined from 0.91 (2015) to 0.82 (2017) million premature mortalities. • Annual economic value of health loss increased but declined as a percent of GDP. • Meeting updated PM 2.5 targets by 2020 could reduce mortality by 11% of 2017 levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]