title: Reducing fine particulate to improve health: a health impact assessment for Taiwan.
abstract: Recently various countries have adopted the new standards for PM(2.5) (particulate matter <2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter), but Taiwan still maintains an old set of air quality guidelines for particulate matter; therefore, the authors quantified the public health impact of long-term exposure to PM(2.5) in terms of attributable number of deaths and the potential gain in life expectancy by reducing PM(2.5) annual levels to 25, 20, 15, and 10 μg/m(3). When the guideline for PM(2.5) long-term exposure was set at 25 μg/m(3), 3.3% of all-cause mortality or 4,500 deaths in 2009 could be prevented. The potential gain in life expectancy at age 30 of this reduction would increase by a range between 1 and 7 months in Taiwan. This study shows that guidelines for PM(2.5), especially for long-term exposure, should be adopted in Taiwan as soon as possible to protect public health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transportation Technology and Management, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. isoguava@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Chia-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D062489:Health Impact Assessment; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D061213:Mortality, Premature; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000592:standards; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter