Burden of Disease Caused by Atmospheric PM_2.5 Pulltion in Jinan, China, in 2013 and 2017

Objective To study the changes in disease burden caused by atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in Jinan, China, in 2013 and 2017, and to explore the effect of PM_2.5 from different sources on health.

Methods Data of annual mean atmospheric PM_2.5 concentration, population, and total mortality rates in Jinan in 2013 and 2017 were collected; the mortality rates of coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were calculated for 2013 and 2017 based on the composition ratios for the above four diseases from 2010 to 2012. An integrated exposure-response (IER) disease burden assessment model was used to evaluate the changes in disease burden and health benefits caused by atmospheric PM_2.5 pollution in 2013 and 2017, and the effect of atmospheric PM_2.5 pollution from different sources in different years on health was analyzed.

Results Compared with those in 2013, the numbers of patients who had health benefits of coronary heart disease deaths due to exposure to atmospheric PM_2.5 from coal combustion, traffic emission, industrial production, dust emission, and other sources in 2017 were 226, -892, 252, 591, and 181, respectively; the numbers for stroke were 168, -466, 169, 365, and 125, respectively; the numbers for lung cancer were 86, -114, 74, 139, and 59, respectively; the numbers for COPD were 26, -54, 25, 50, and 19, respectively.

Conclusion Compared with that in 2013, disease burden caused by traffic emission nearly doubled in Jinan in 2017. It is recommended to actively promote the implementation of national VI emission standards for motor vehicles and strengthen the control measures for traffic emission. The health benefits due to reduced dust emission is the greatest, indicating the evident effect of air pollution control measures against dust emission. There is a relatively small degree of reduction in disease burden due to coal combustion; therefore, it is recommended to put more efforts in promoting the application of clean energy. More targeted control measures against air pollution are recommended in Jinan in the future.