Source contributions and drivers of physiological and psychophysical cobenefits from major air pollution control actions in North China

Abstract

North China is among the most polluted regions in the country, and human exposure to PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) in this region has led to severe health consequences. The region has also benefited the most from emission reductions in recent years. It is of interest to understand to what extent and through which paths emissions from different sectors cause adverse health impacts. Here, we present the results of a full evaluation of the health benefits of emission control actions implemented in recent years based on segregated emission inventories with an emphasis on residential emissions. Two major causal paths, one from residential emissions to indoor air pollution, exposure, and premature deaths, and the other from nonresidential emissions to ambient air pollution and psychophysical impacts, were identified and quantified. From 2014 to 2019, both ambient (33%) and indoor (39%) PM2.5 decreased significantly, leading to decreasing trends in exposure (36%), premature deaths (10%), and psychophysical impacts (21%). The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, the Clean Heating Campaign, and spontaneous residential shifts to clean energy contributed significantly to these reductions when the effects of other drivers, such as population and economic growth, were excluded.

Impact of Stove Renovation on PM2.5 Exposure, Risk Perception, Self-Protective Willingness of Rural Residents

“…At the same time, economically, lower PM 2.5 levels produced less social costs [ 31 ], effectively alleviating the inequality of health spending [ 32 ]. Other studies also confirmed the same results [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], which again validated the physical utility of stove renovation.…”

“…As shown in Table 1 , previous studies have considered the impact of clean energy renovation on air quality, individual health and psychological well-being [ 11 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], while few studies have considered the impact of clean energy intervention on individuals’ perception and willingness to protect themselves. On the other hand, in many developing countries, such as India, it has been found that stove renovation projects were limited by local perceptions and economies [ 12 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], while the factors that influence the willingness to pay for stove renovation in rural China are not yet clear.…”

The Long Hazy Tail: Analysis of the Impacts and Trends of Severe Outdoor and Indoor Air Pollution in North China

“…In particular, indoor pollution was responsible for >70% of premature mortality in 2014 for rural residents in North China due to their considerable use of solid fuel for heating and cooking. 22 Hence, exploring the public health contributions of high PM 2.5 concentration range in both ambient and indoor environments is necessary for the development of effective mitigation policies. Herein, trends in severe hazy days (SHDs) and severe indoor pollution days (SIPDs) are examined, and the effects of mitigation policies (particularly CHC) are discussed, with a focus on severe haze in ambient air, and analogously, severe pollution in indoor air.…”

“…47 Psychophysical Impact. A previously described 22 model calculating the subjective well-being (SWB) based on psychophysical experiments conducted in Beijing 48 was modified to define the integrated subjective well-being (ISWB), which addressed the psychophysical impact of ambient PM 2.5 concentrations in this study. The scores (0− 5) of four negative emotions, including worry, stress, depression, and irritation, were derived based on the modeled ambient PM 2.5 concentrations.…”

Air Pollutant Emissions from Residential Solid Fuel Combustion in the Pan-Third Pole Region

“…A few studies have estimated the air pollutant emissions from residential solid fuel combustion at various spatial scales − and showed that 21% of global PM 2.5 emissions were from residential coal and biomass combustion in 2010 . In China, residential combustion accounted for 21% of total SO 2 emissions and 27% of total PM 2.5 emissions in 2015, which are responsible for 58% of population-weighted health risk .…”