Ozone exposure and health risks of different age structures in major urban agglomerations in People's Republic of China from 2013 to 2018.

High concentration of surface ozone (O ₃ ) will cause health risks to people. In order to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of O ₃ and assess O ₃ exposure and health risks for different age groups in China, we applied multiple methods including standard deviation ellipse, spatial autocorrelation, and exposure-response functions. Results show that O ₃ concentrations increased in 64.5% of areas in China from 2013 to 2018. The central plain urban agglomeration (CPU), Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) witnessed the greatest incremental rates of O ₃ by 16.7%, 14.3%, and 13.1%. Spatially, the trend of O ₃ shows a significant positive autocorrelation, and high trend values primarily in central and east China. The proportion of the total population exposed to high O ₃ (above 160 μg/m ³ ) increased annually. Compared to 2013, the proportion of the young, adult, and old populations exposed to high O ₃ increased to different extents in 2018 by 26.8%, 29.6%, and 27.2%, respectively. The extent of population exposure risk areas in China expanded in size, particularly in north and east China. The total premature respiratory mortalities attributable to long-term O ₃ exposure in six urban agglomerations were about 177,000 in 2018 which has increased by 16.4% compared to that in 2013. Among different age groups, old people are more vulnerable to O ₃ pollution, so we need to strengthen their relevant health protection of them.
(© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)