Air Pollution Characteristics and Health Risks in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China during Winter.

Mao Mao,Haofei Sun,Xiaolin Zhang

doi:10.3390/ijerph17249172

Abstract

The air pollution characteristics of six ambient criteria pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and trace gases, in 29 typical cities across the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from December 2017 to February 2018 are analyzed. The overall average mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, and O3 are 73, 104, 16, 1100, 47, and 62 µg/m3, respectively. PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 are the dominant major pollutants to poor air quality, with nearly 83%, 86%, and 59%, exceeding the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standard Grade I. The situation of PM pollution in the middle and lower reaches is more serious than that in the upper reaches, and the north bank is more severe than the south bank of the Yangtze River. Strong positive spatial correlations for PM concentrations between city pairs within 300 km is frequently observed. NO2 pollution is primarily concentrated in the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou urban agglomeration and surrounding areas. The health risks are assessed by the comparison of the classification of air pollution levels with three approaches: air quality index (AQI), aggregate AQI (AAQI), and health risk-based AQI (HAQI). When the AQI values escalate, the air pollution classifications based on the AAQI and HAQI values become more serious. The HAQI approach can better report the comprehensive health effects from multipollutant air pollution. The population-weighted HAQI data in the winter exhibit that 50%, 70%, and 80% of the population in the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the YREB are exposed to polluted air (HAQI > 100). The current air pollution status in YREB needs more effective efforts to improve the air quality.

Highlights

In the past decade, air pollution levels over China have been far higher than the World HealthOrganization (WHO) guidelines, with unprecedented urbanization and economic development [1,2,3,4].The coexistence of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants (e.g., SO2 and NOx ) from urban traffic and regional industrial sources can interfere with the chemical composition, optical properties, and mixing state of aerosol particles [5]
Zhao et al explored the spatiotemporal variations of six criteria air pollutants and influencing factors in the city clusters of the Sichuan Basin, which are located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), and the results indicated that both PM2.5 and
Regions with serious PM2.5 pollution and relatively clean air quality are roughly diagonally distributed, and the former is mainly located on the north bank of the middle and lower reaches (~80 μg/m3 ), while the latter is primarily concentrated on the south bank of the upper reaches (~45 μg/m3 ) of the Yangtze River

Summary

Introduction

Air pollution levels over China have been far higher than the World HealthOrganization (WHO) guidelines, with unprecedented urbanization and economic development [1,2,3,4].The coexistence of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants (e.g., SO2 and NOx ) from urban traffic and regional industrial sources can interfere with the chemical composition, optical properties, and mixing state of aerosol particles [5]. Air pollution levels over China have been far higher than the World Health. Organization (WHO) guidelines, with unprecedented urbanization and economic development [1,2,3,4]. The coexistence of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants (e.g., SO2 and NOx ) from urban traffic and regional industrial sources can interfere with the chemical composition, optical properties, and mixing state of aerosol particles [5]. Urban fog and haze weather is still a major threat to human health, as well as the environment [8]. In early 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) of China began to release real-time urban air quality data.

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Conclusion