Abstract
Beijing is a haze-prone city, which experienced continuous haze during January 2013. The mean fine particulate (PM2.5) concentrations during January 2013 were 98–228 μg/m3, which were much higher than the mean concentration of 25 μg/m3 over 24 h suggested by the Air Quality Guidelines of the World Health Organization. This event provides a case study to evaluate the effects of extreme haze on health and its subsequent economic costs. We evaluated the health impacts on the Beijing population that were directly attributable to PM2.5 pollution during the haze. Based on the principle of willingness to pay, we estimated the economic costs associated with these health impacts. This specific haze event in Beijing caused 479 acute deaths from all causes. The economic cost of the deaths attributed to PM2.5 pollution was ~180 million USD, equivalent to 0.76 % of the gross domestic product (GDP). We also assessed discrepancies in economic costs at the district level in Beijing. Our results revealed that the ratios of economic cost to GDP varied markedly among the 16 districts of Beijing. Such data are relevant to formulating more effective countermeasures to reduce the economic burden associated with severe weather events such as haze.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (BMBS) (2013) Beijing Statistical Yearbook (2013) http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/nj/main/2013-tjnj/content/mV40_0302.htm. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (BMBS) (2014) Basic information. http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/esite/. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center (BJMEMC) (2013) Air quality of Beijing. http://zx.bjmemc.com.cn/ Accessed 4 –31 Jan 2013
Beijing Municipal Government (BMG) (2012) The main functional area planning of Beijing. http://zhengwu.beijing.gov.cn/ghxx/qtgh/t1240927.htm. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Chen RJ, Chu C, Tan JG, Cao JS, Song WM, Xu XH, Jiang C, Ma WJ, Yang CX, Chen BH, Gui YH, Kan HD (2010) Ambient air pollution and hospital admission in Shanghai, China. J Hazard Mater 181:234–240
China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) (2013) History average exchange rate of RMB. http://www.chinamoney.com.cn/fe/Channel/17383. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Chongqing Municipal of Bureau of Statistics (CMBS) (2013) Chongqing Statistical Yearbook (2013). http://www.cqtj.gov.cn/tjnj/2013/indexch.htm. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Dockery DW, Stone PH (2007) Cardiovascular risks from fine particulate air pollution. N Engl J Med 356(5):511–513
Dominici F, Peng RD, Bell ML, Pham L, Dermott AM, Zeger SL, Samet JM (2006) Fine particulate air pollution and hospital admission for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. JAMA 295(10):1127–1134
Foraster M, Basagaña X, Aguilera I, Rivera M, Agis D, Bouso L, Deltell A, Marruget J, Ramos R, Sunyer J, Vila J, Elosua R, Kunzli N (2014) Association of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution with blood pressure and hypertension in an adult population-based cohort in Spain (the REGICOR Study). Environ Health Persp 122:404–411
Gehring U, Gruzieva O, Agius RM, Beelen R, Custovic A, Cyrys J, Eeftens M, Flexeder C, Fuertes E, Heinrich J, Hoffmann B, Jongste JC, Kerkhof M, Klumper C, Korek M, Mölter A, Schultz ES, Simpson A, Sugiri D, Svartengren M, Berg A, Wijga AH, Pershagen G, Brunekreef B (2013) Air pollution exposure and lung function in children: the ESCAPE project. Environ Health Persp 121:1357–1364
Huang DS, Xu JH, Zhang SQ (2012) Valuing the health risks of particulate air pollution in the Pearl River Delta, China. Environ Sci Policy 15:38–47
Kan HD, Chen BH (2004) Particulate air pollution in urban areas of Shanghai, China: health-based economic assessment. Sci Total Environ 322:71–79
Li P, Xin JY, Wang YS, Wang SG, Li GX, Pan XC, Liu ZR, Wang LL (2013a) The acute effects of fine particles on respiratory mortality and morbidity in Beijing, 2004–2009. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20:6433–6444
Li TT, Du YJ, Mo Y, Xue WB, Xu DQ, Wang JN (2013b) Assessment of haze-related human health risk for four Chinese cities during extreme haze in January 2013. Natl Med J China 93(34):2699–2702
Li SM, Liu GR, Zheng MH, Liu WB, Wang M, Xiao K, Li CL, Wang YW (2015) Comparison of the contributions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and other unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants to the total toxic equivalents in air of steel plant areas. Chemosphere 126:73–77
Liu XY, Xie P, Liu ZR, Li TT, Zhong LJ, Xiang YR (2010) Economic assessment of acute health impact due to inhalable particulate air pollution in the Pearl River Delta. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Un 46(5):829–834
Loomis D, Grosse Y, Lauby-Secretan B, Ghissassi EF, Bouvard V, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Guha N, Baan R, Mattock H, Straif K (2013) International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group: the carcinogenicity of outdoor air pollution. Lancet Oncol 14:1262–1263
Ma YJ, Chen RJ, Pan GW, Xu XH, Song WM, Chen BH, Kan HD (2011) Fine particulate air pollution and daily mortality in Shenyang, China. Sci Total Environ 409:2473–2477
Pan XC, Li X, Gao T (2012) Dangerous breathing: PM2.5: measuring the human health and economic impacts on China’s largest cities[R], Beijing, 2012.
Polichetti G, Cocco S, Spinali A, Trimarco V, Nunziata A (2009) Effects of particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) on the cardiovascular system. Toxicology 261:1–8
Quah E, Boon TL (2003) The economic cost of particulate air pollution on health in Singapore. J Asian Econ 14:73–90
Shang Y, Sun ZW, Cao JJ, Wang XM, Zhong LJ, Bi XH, Li H, Liu WX, Zhu T, Huang W (2013) Systematic review of Chinese studies of short-term exposure to air pollution and daily mortality. Environ Int 54:100–111
Wang H, Mullahy J (2006) Willingness to pay for reducing fatal risk by improving air quality: a contingent valuation study in Chongqing, China. Sci Total Environ 367:50–57
Woodruff TJ, Parker JD, Schoendorf KC (2006) Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and selected causes of postneonatal infant mortality in California. Environ Health Perspect 114(5):786–790
World Bank (2007) Cost of pollution in China: economic estimates of physical damages. http://search.worldbank.org/all?qterm=Cost%20of%20pollution%20in%20China. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
World Health Organization (WHO) (2005) Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Global update 2005, http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/outdoorair_aqg/en/. Accessed 18 Mar 2014
Xie P, Liu XY, Liu ZR, Li TT, Bai YH (2009) Exposure-response functions for health effect of ambient particular matter pollution applicable for China. China Environ Sci 29(10):1034–1040
Yin YW, Cheng JP, Duan YS, Wei HP, Ji RX, Yu JL, Yu HR (2011) Economic evaluation of residents’ health hazard caused by PM2.5 of haze pollution in a city. J Environ Health 28(3):250–252
ZanobettiA BMC, Schwartz J (2008) Particulate air pollution and survival in a COPD cohort. Environ Health 7:48
Zhang MS, Song Y, Cai XH (2007) A health-based assessment of particulate air pollution in urban areas of Beijing in 2000-2004. Sci Total Environ 376:100–108
Zhang MS, Song Y, Cai XH, Zhou J (2008) Economic assessment of the health effects related to particulate matter pollution in 111 Chinese cities by using economic burden of disease analysis. J Environ Manage 88:947–954
Zhang ZL, Wang J, Chen LH, Chen XY, Sun GY, Zhong NS, Kan HD, Lu WJ (2014) Impact of haze and air pollution-related hazards on hospital admissions in Guangzhou, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21:4236–4244
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 21277135 and 40905069) and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (no. 8132048).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Du, Y., Li, T. Assessment of health-based economic costs linked to fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution: a case study of haze during January 2013 in Beijing, China. Air Qual Atmos Health 9, 439–445 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-015-0387-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-015-0387-7