Health impact assessment of exposure to fine particulate matter based on satellite and meteorological information

Abstract

Air pollution in China, especially in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, has drastically increased in recent years. We modelled annual mean ground-level PM_2.5 concentrations based on worldwide satellite information and meteorological data from 40 cities outside the PRD. The model of PM_2.5 concentration (R = 0.845) was best explained by aerosol optical thickness (43.8%). We validated the spatial–temporal dimensions of the model and estimated that the annual mean PM_2.5 concentration in PRD ranged between 22 and 65 μg m⁻³. Then we used meta-analysis to obtain the pooled excess risks of mortality in China and assessed the health impacts. We found an inverse association between short-term excess risks of mortality and annual mean PM_2.5 concentrations. Based on the above models and analyses, the associated excess deaths for all-cause and cardiopulmonary diseases were 3386 and 2639 respectively. The corresponding risk-standardized excess death rates were 2006 and 1069 per million people.