Population Aging Driven Slowdown in the Reduction of Economic Cost-Attributed to PM2.5 Pollution after 2013 in China

Lulu Lian; Siyu Chen; Jianmin Ma; Tiantian Li; Yang Yang; Tao Huang; Yong Wang; Jixiang Li

doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c05386

Population Aging Driven Slowdown in the Reduction of Economic Cost-Attributed to PM_2.5 Pollution after 2013 in China

Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Dec 13. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05386. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Lulu Lian¹, Siyu Chen², Jianmin Ma³, Tiantian Li⁴, Yang Yang⁵, Tao Huang⁶, Yong Wang⁷, Jixiang Li³

Affiliations

¹ College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, P. R. China.
² Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, P. R. China.
³ Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing100871, P. R. China.
⁴ National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing100021, P. R. China.
⁵ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing210000, P. R. China.
⁶ Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Prediction and Control, Gansu Province, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, P. R. China.
⁷ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling & Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing100084, P. R. China.

PMID: 36511754
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05386

Abstract

Since seniors are more susceptible to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), the high economic cost to protect the aged population from PM_2.5 exposure is expected. Significant efforts have been made in China to mitigate PM_2.5 since 2013 under the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action (APPCA) Plan, which remarkably reduced PM_2.5 contamination and its associated economic and health burdens. However, to what extent population aging could influence the economic benefits from the APPCA Plan is unclear. Here, we estimate five driving factors contributing to the economic cost of mortality attributable to PM_2.5 pollution. The results show that the economic cost attributed to PM_2.5 pollution increased from 1980 to 2013 and decreased from 2013 to 2019 in China, benefiting from the APPCA Plan. Since 2013, population aging becomes the most significant positive driver that almost offsets declining economic cost from significantly declining PM_2.5. Rapid aging has become an enormous burden to PM_2.5-associated health and economic loss. Our findings suggest that we should further improve air quality and enhance health care for the elderly population.

Keywords: PM2.5 pollution; air pollution prevention and control action plan; economic cost; mortality; population aging.