Revealing the hidden health costs embodied in Chinese exports

Jiang, Xujia, Zhang, Qiang, Zhao, Hongyan, Geng, Guannan, Peng, Liqun, Guan, Dabo, Kan, Haidong, Huo, Hong, Lin, Jintai, Brauer, Michael, Martin, Randall V. and He, Kebin (2015) Revealing the hidden health costs embodied in Chinese exports. Environmental Science & Technology, 49 (7). pp. 4381-4388. ISSN 0013-936X

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Abstract

China emits a considerable amount of air pollutants when producing goods for export. Previous efforts have emphasized the magnitude of export-related emissions; however, their health consequences on the Chinese population have not been quantified. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study to estimate the health impact of export-related air pollution. The results show that export-related emissions elevated the annual mean population weighted PM2.5 by 8.3 μg/m3 (15% of the total) in 2007, causing 157,000 deaths and accounting for 12% of the total mortality attributable to PM2.5-related air pollution. Compared to the eastern coastal provinces, the inner regions experience much larger export-related health losses relative to their economic production gains, owing to huge inter-regional disparities in export structures and technology levels. A shift away from emission-intensive production structure and export patterns, especially in inner regions, could significantly help improve national exports while alleviating the inter-regional cost-benefit inequality. Our results provide the first quantification of health consequences from air pollution related to Chinese exports. The proposed policy recommendations, based on health burden, economic production gains, and emission analysis, would be helpful to develop more sustainable and effective national and regional export strategies.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: chemistry(all),environmental chemistry,sdg 10 - reduced inequalities ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1600
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of International Development
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 23 Jun 2016 23:06
Last Modified: 21 Oct 2022 00:58
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59494
DOI: 10.1021/es506121s

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