title: Health impact assessment of exposure to fine particulate matter based on satellite and meteorological information.
abstract: Air pollution in China, especially in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, has drastically increased in recent years. We modelled annual mean ground-level PM2.5 concentrations based on worldwide satellite information and meteorological data from 40 cities outside the PRD. The model of PM2.5 concentration (R = 0.845) was best explained by aerosol optical thickness (43.8%). We validated the spatial-temporal dimensions of the model and estimated that the annual mean PM2.5 concentration in PRD ranged between 22 and 65 μg m(-3). Then we used meta-analysis to obtain the pooled excess risks of mortality in China and assessed the health impacts. We found an inverse association between short-term excess risks of mortality and annual mean PM2.5 concentrations. Based on the above models and analyses, the associated excess deaths for all-cause and cardiopulmonary diseases were 3386 and 2639 respectively. The corresponding risk-standardized excess death rates were 2006 and 1069 per million people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. laihk@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Hak-Kan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Hilda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Thuan-Quoc
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Thach
authors.forename: Chit-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062489:Health Impact Assessment; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008685:Meteorological Concepts; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D063809:Satellite Imagery
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter