Construction-related activities are responsible for roughly half of China's premature deaths linked to ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), according to a new national-scale analysis. By tracing emissions across the full construction lifecycle—including supply chain of materials and goods, onsite activities, and building energy use—the study reveals that construction systems rival traditional pollution sources in their health impact. The findings show that upstream industries such as cement, steel, and power generation dominate urban health burdens, while residential heating drives rural exposure. Importantly, the analysis demonstrates that targeted low-carbon strategies in construction could simultaneously reduce carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and prevent hundreds of thousands of pollution-related deaths, positioning the sector as a critical leverage point for integrated climate and public-health action.
China's rapid urbanization has fueled an unprecedented expansion of construction, dramatically increasing energy use and emissions across supply chains and building operations. While air quality policies since 2013 have reduced pollution from major industrial sources, these measures are becoming increasingly costly and fragmented, often disconnected from climate mitigation strategies. At the same time, construction-related CO 2 emissions continue to rise, accounting for a growing share of national totals. Despite its scale, the full health burden of construction-driven air pollution—and its evolution across urban and rural areas—has remained poorly quantified. Based on these challenges, there is a pressing need to systematically assess how construction activities shape air-pollution mortality and how low-carbon transitions could unlock health co-benefits.
In a study published (DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2026.100666) online in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology on February 1, 2026, researchers from Southern University of Science and Technology, Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University report that construction-related emissions caused approximately 1.1 million premature deaths in China in 2019. Using an integrated modeling framework, the team quantified how emissions from construction materials, energy use, and supply chains contribute to particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) exposure nationwide, revealing that construction systems account for about half of China's total PM 2.5 -attributable mortality.
To capture the full health footprint of construction, the researchers combined a detailed national emission inventory with input–output analysis, atmospheric modeling, and epidemiological risk assessment. This approach allowed them to trace pollution from construction activities across multiple stages—from onsite construction, through upstream production of materials and associated services, to building operational energy use—and link emissions directly to PM 2.5 -related mortality.
The results show that indirect emissions from upstream industries are the dominant source of construction-related health impacts in urban areas, accounting for roughly 60% of urban deaths. In contrast, rural health burdens are driven primarily by operational emissions, particularly winter heating using coal and biomass. Spatial analysis revealed stark regional inequalities: rural northern China experiences disproportionately high mortality due to heating-related pollution, while urban centers externalize health risks to upstream industrial regions.
Historically, construction-related deaths rose sharply during rapid urbanization in the early 2000s, peaked around 2008, and then declined as pollution controls were implemented. Notably, the study identifies a phase after 2015 in which low-carbon measures—such as cleaner power generation and industrial upgrades—produced simultaneous reductions in both CO 2 emissions and premature deaths. Scenario modeling further suggests that aggressive decarbonization of electricity and industrial energy could deliver substantial climate–health co-benefits, while rural clean-heating strategies must be paired with power-sector decarbonization to avoid offsetting carbon gains.
“Construction has long been viewed mainly through the lens of CO 2 emissions, but our results show it is equally a public health issue,” said the study's corresponding author. “By accounting for the entire construction system, we find that decisions about building materials, energy sources, and heating technologies have life-or-death consequences. The encouraging message is that many low-carbon strategies—especially those targeting power generation and heavy industry—can also deliver major health benefits. Aligning air-quality and climate policies is therefore not just efficient, but essential.”
The findings position China's construction sector as a strategic entry point for coordinated climate and health policy. Accelerating renewable power deployment, modernizing industrial technologies, and reducing reliance on coal-intensive materials could significantly cut both CO 2 emissions and mortality in urban areas. In rural regions, cleaner heating solutions—such as heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and efficient biomass technologies—offer major health gains but require a greener electricity supply to ensure long-term carbon reductions. Beyond China, the study provides a transferable framework for rapidly urbanizing countries facing similar trade-offs, highlighting how infrastructure development choices today can shape population health and climate outcomes for decades.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2026.100666
Funding information
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42330709), National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFE0112901), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KQTD20240729102048052), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42475108, 42192512, and 42571087), the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (101137905), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20241202152804007 and JCYJ20220818100611024), Guangdong Provincial Field Observation and Research Station for Coastal Atmosphere and Climate of the Greater Bay Area (2021B1212050024), High-level Special Funds (G03034K006), and Center for Computational Science and Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology.
About Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
Environmental Science and Ecotechnology (ISSN 2666-4984) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal published by Elsevier. The journal publishes significant views and research across the full spectrum of ecology and environmental sciences, such as climate change, sustainability, biodiversity conservation, environment & health, green catalysis/processing for pollution control, and AI-driven environmental engineering. The latest impact factor of ESE is 14.3, according to the Journal Citation Reports TM 2024.
Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
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Construction activities drive half of China's ambient PM2.5 health burden
1-Feb-2026
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.