Residential solid fuel emissions contribute significantly to air pollution and associated health impacts in China

Yun, Xiao; Shen, Guofeng; Shen, Huizhong; Meng, Wenjun; Chen, Yilin; Xu, Hui; Ren, Yu’ang; Zhong, Qirui; Du, Wei; Ma, Jianmin; Cheng, Hefa; Wang, Xilong; Liu, Junfeng; Wang, Xuejun; Li, Bengang; Hu, Jianying; Wan, Yi; Tao, Shu

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aba7621

Cited by 220 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…It was hard to investigate the long-term effect of PM 2.5 exposure increase in the annual festival days overlapping COVID-19 lockdown. For example, we could not estimate the PM 2.5 -associated premature deaths because it was estimated based on the whole life, not a short period ( Yun et al, 2020 ). While, some short-term effect such as asthma, blood pressure increase may be caused by the increase of PM 2.5 exposure in a relative short time considering the lockdown in rural China lasted for more than one month ( Wang et al, 2018 ; Williams et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of COVID-19 lockdown overlapping Chinese Spring Festival on household PM2.5 in rural Chinese homes

Wang

et al. 2021

Chemosphere

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During the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries took strong lockdown policy to reduce disease spreading, resulting in mitigating the ambient air pollution due to less traffic and industrial emission. However, limited studies focused on the household air pollution especially in rural area, the potential risk induced by indoor air pollution exposure was unknown during this period. This field study continuously measured real-time PM 2.5 levels in kitchen, living room, and outdoor in the normal days (Period-1) and the days of COVID-19 lockdown overlapping the Chinese Spring Festival (Period-2) in rural homes in China. The average daily PM 2.5 concentrations increased by 17.4 and 5.1 μg/m 3 in kitchen and living room during Period- 2, respectively, which may be due to more fuel consumption for cooking and heating caused by larger family sizes than those during the normal days. The ambient PM 2.5 concentration in rural areas in Period-2 decreased by 6.7 μg/m 3 compared to the Period-1, less than the drop in urban areas (26.8 μg/m 3 ). An increase of mass fraction of very fine particles in ambient air was observed during lockdown overlapping annual festival days, which could be explained by the residential solid fuel burning. Due to higher indoor air pollution level and longer time spent in indoor environments, daily personal exposure to PM 2.5 was 134 ± 40 μg/m 3 in Period-2, which was significantly higher than that during in Period-1 (126 ± 27 μg/m 3 , p < 0.05).The increase of personal PM 2.5 exposure during Period-2 could potentially have negative impact on human health, indicating further investigations should be performed to estimate the health impact of global COVID-19 lockdown on community, especially in rural homes using solid fuels as the routine fuels.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of COVID-19 lockdown overlapping Chinese Spring Festival on household PM2.5 in rural Chinese homes

Wang

et al. 2021

Chemosphere

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“…We found that air quality inside the GBA can be improved from reductions in residential emissions outside the GBA, as pollution transport into the GBA is important. These reductions in residential emissions may be realized in North China from current policies, however, solid fuel use remains high in many rural areas of South China (Yun et al., 2020), where there are currently no specific policies to reduce residential emissions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Policies Targeting Residential Solid Fuel and Agricultural Emissions Can Improve Air Quality and Public Health in the Greater Bay Area and Across China

et al. 2021

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Air pollution exposure is a leading public health problem in China. The majority of the total air pollution disease burden is from fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, with smaller contributions from ozone (O3) exposure. Recent emission reductions have reduced PM2.5 exposure. However, levels of exposure and the associated risk remain high, some pollutant emissions have increased, and some sectors lack effective emission control measures. We quantified the potential impacts of relevant policy scenarios on ambient air quality and public health across China. We show that PM2.5 exposure inside the Greater Bay Area (GBA) is strongly controlled by emissions outside the GBA. We find that reductions in residential solid fuel use and agricultural fertilizer emissions result in the greatest reductions in PM2.5 exposure and the largest health benefits. A 50% transition from residential solid fuel use to liquefied petroleum gas outside the GBA reduced PM2.5 exposure by 15% in China and 3% within the GBA, and avoided 191,400 premature deaths each year across China. Reducing agricultural fertilizer emissions of ammonia by 30% outside the GBA reduced PM2.5 exposure by 4% in China and 3% in the GBA, avoiding 56,500 annual premature deaths across China. Our simulations suggest that reducing residential solid fuel or industrial emissions will reduce both PM2.5 and O3 exposure, whereas other policies may increase O3 exposure. Improving particulate air quality inside the GBA will require consideration of residential solid fuel and agricultural sectors, which currently lack targeted policies, and regional cooperation both inside and outside the GBA.

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“…Because we were not sure what the other fuel was, we excluded the users of other fuels and those that answered that they never cook. Considering a previous study on the health effects of fuel burning 21 , we defined cooking fuel as solid fuel (coal, crop residue and wood) and clean fuel (natural gas, marsh gas, liquefied petroleum gas and utilizing electricity).…”

Section: Methods and Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between solid fuel use and cognitive decline among middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults: a longitudinal study

Sun

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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This study was conducted to investigate (1) the association between solid fuel use for cooking and cognitive function; (2) the moderating effects of gender and residential area on cognitive scores among solid fuel users; and (3) the effects of solid fuel use on cognitive decline among different gender and age subgroups in 2011–2018. A total of 5140 Chinese middle-aged and elderly participants were successfully followed for 7 years (2011–2018). Solid fuel use was self-reported as using solid fuel for cooking at home, and cognitive function was assessed by 4 parts: episodic memory, time orientation, numerical ability and picture drawing. After adjusting for covariates, solid fuel users had lower cognitive scores, and the moderation effects of gender and residence on cognitive function were significant among the solid fuel users. In addition, compared with the group of clean fuel users, solid fuel users had a faster decline rate of cognitive function among the subgroups of female and elderly people.

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Residential solid fuel emissions contribute significantly to air pollution and associated health impacts in China

Cited by 220 publications

References 22 publications

Influence of COVID-19 lockdown overlapping Chinese Spring Festival on household PM2.5 in rural Chinese homes

Influence of COVID-19 lockdown overlapping Chinese Spring Festival on household PM2.5 in rural Chinese homes

Regional Policies Targeting Residential Solid Fuel and Agricultural Emissions Can Improve Air Quality and Public Health in the Greater Bay Area and Across China

Association between solid fuel use and cognitive decline among middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults: a longitudinal study

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