The spatial-temporal characteristics and health impacts of ambient fine particulate matter in China

Airborne particulate matter presents a serious health threat to human beings, but in China there have until now been few epidemiological studies, especially regarding the impact of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This study explored first the temporal and spatial characteristics of ambient airborne PM2.5 in China, 2013. Mortality, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic bronchitis were then evaluated as four health endpoints attributed to PM2.5. The results showed that the average annual PM2.5 concentration was 72.71 μg/m3; the PM2.5 concentration was below 35 μg/m3 for only 6% of the time, for the whole year. In terms of the PM2.5 concentration, January (133.10 μg/m3) and December (120.19 μg/m3) were the most polluted months, whereas July (38.76 μg/m3) and August (41.31 μg/m3) were the least polluted months. The most highly polluted areas were concentrated in North China. In terms of the health endpoints attributable to PM2.5, there were 763,595 mortality, 149,754 cardiovascular diseases, 446,035 respiratory diseases, and 2,389,035 chronic bronchitis cases. Results were very important to clarify the current PM2.5 pollution situation and the health impact of PM2.5 in China. And also provided a reference for the assessing damage caused by PM2.5 pollution.