Systematic review of Chinese studies of short-term exposure to air pollution and daily mortality
Abstract
Health effects attributable to air pollution exposure in Chinese population have been least understood. The authors conducted a meta-analysis on 33 time-series and case-crossover studies conducted in China to assess mortality effects of short-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 and 2.5 μm (PM10 and PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO). Significant associations between air pollution exposure and increased mortality risks were observed in the pooled estimates for all pollutants of interest. In specific, each 10 μg/m(3) increase in PM2.5 was associated with a 0.38% (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.31, 0.45) increase in total mortality, a 0.51% (95% CI: 0.30, 0.73) in respiratory mortality, and a 0.44% (95% CI: 0.33, 0.54) in cardiovascular mortality. When current annual PM2.5 levels in mega-Chinese cities to be reduced to the WHO Air Quality Guideline (AQG) of 10 μg/m(3), mortality attributable to short-term exposure to PM2.5 could be reduced by 2.7%, 1.7%, 2.3%, and 6.2% in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an, respectively. The authors recommend future studies on the nature of air pollution concentration and health effect relationships in Chinese population to support setting stringent air quality standards to improve public health.
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The study's estimates of the ozone-mortality relationship are generally consistent with previous multicity studies and meta-analyses in China.
“Our estimates of the ozone-mortality relationship are generally consistent with previous multicity studies and meta-analyses in China (Chen et al., 2014; Shang et al., 2013; Tao et al., 2011; Yan et al., 2013).”
From Acute effect of ozone exposure on daily mortality in seven cities of Jiangsu Province, China: no clear evidence for threshold (2017) · cites this paper as Shang et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Shang, Y., Sun, Z., Cao, J., Wang, X., Zhong, L., Bi, X., Li, H., Liu, W., Zhu, T., & Huang, W.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai University (CN)
- Capital Medical University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Guangdong Province Environmental Monitoring Center (CN)
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Huang, Wei
- Venue
- Environment International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-04
- Volume
- 54
- Pages
- 100-111
- ISSN
- 0160-4120 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2519272334
- Cited by
- 505
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 3.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environment International (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Keywords
- short-term air pollution exposure, daily mortality, PM2.5, PM10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, respiratory mortality, cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, air quality guidelines, air quality standards, Chinese cities, air pollution health effects
- MeSH terms
- Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, China, Environmental Exposure, Humans, Mortality, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide, Cross-Over Studies, Particulate Matter
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