International trade linked with disease burden from airborne particulate pollution

The importance of mitigating air pollution is well understood, while the role of trade on health burden induced by air pollution is not. A comparison between the geographic locations of PM emissions and those of airborne diseases shows large discrepancy. The incidence of PM emissions is dominated by countries outside of Asia, while half of the airborne disease burden occurs in China and India. Dealing with the air pollution issue from the endpoint (i.e. PM emissions-caused disease) is more relevant to health. Though there are many influential factors that cause high health burden of air pollution in developing countries, the high airborne disease burden caused by production in developing countries for fulfilling the demand for goods in developed countries cannot be ignored. We calculate the airborne disease footprints of 189 countries, and link the workers who are suffering from severe airborne disease with the consumers who are enjoying the goods without suffering the health risks of workers. China and India are the top two net exporters of both PM emissions and PM-caused airborne disease, but the net exports are much larger in terms of disease. The USA is the top net importer of airborne disease, followed by other developed nations such as Japan, Hong Kong, the UAE, and many wealthy European nations. These results can be helpful for international organizations and policy-makers to guide joint global efforts for combatting airborne diseases.