Researchers report changes in household and ambient air pollution in China. Since 2005, the Chinese government has implemented stringent emissions control policies on power plants, transportation, and industry. Estimates of the health impacts of the policies have large uncertainties. Kirk Smith, Shuxiao Wang, and colleagues combined chemical transport simulations, local emissions inventories, official statistics, and existing surveys to estimate the change in integrated population-weighted exposure (IPWE) to particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) throughout China between 2005 and 2015. During this time, the nationwide average IPWE decreased by around 47%. Approximately 90% of the decrease came from reductions in household fuel consumption, particularly for cooking, even though there were no policy controls on household fuels in place at the time. Instead, the decline in solid fuel use likely resulted from increasing urbanization and income, both of which improve access to clean fuels. According to the authors, replacement of all remaining household solid fuels with clean energy sources, such as electricity and natural gas, could prevent an additional half-million premature deaths per year.
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Article #18-12955: "Change in household fuels dominates the decrease in PM2.5 exposure and premature mortality in China in 2005-2015," by Bin Zhao et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kirk R. Smith, University of California, Berkeley, CA; tel: 510-914-0620; e-mail: krksmith@berkeley.edu ; Shuxiao Wang, Tsinghua University, Beijing, CHINA; e-mail: shxwang@tsinghua.edu.cn
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences