title: Health impacts and economic losses assessment of the 2013 severe haze event in Beijing area.
abstract: Haze is a serious air pollution problem in China, especially in Beijing and surrounding areas, affecting visibility, public health and regional climate. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting-Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model was used to simulate PM2.5 (particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter≤2.5 μm) concentrations during the 2013 severe haze event in Beijing, and health impacts and health-related economic losses were calculated based on model results. Compared with surface monitoring data, the model results reflected pollution concentrations accurately (correlation coefficients between simulated and measured PM2.5 were 0.7, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 in Beijing, Tianjin, Xianghe and Xinglong stations, respectively). Health impacts assessments show that the PM2.5 concentrations in January might cause 690 (95% confidence interval (CI): (490, 890)) premature deaths, 45,350 (95% CI: (21,640, 57,860)) acute bronchitis and 23,720 (95% CI: (17,090, 29,710)) asthma cases in Beijing area. Results of the economic losses assessments suggest that the haze in January 2013 might lead to 253.8 (95% CI: (170.2, 331.2)) million US$ losses, accounting for 0.08% (95% CI: (0.05%, 0.1%)) of the total 2013 annual gross domestic product (GDP) of Beijing.
authors.affiliation: Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Electronic address: meng-gao@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA.
authors.forename: Sarath K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Guttikunda
authors.affiliation: Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yuesi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry (LAPC), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Zirui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Charles O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Stanier
authors.affiliation: Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Pablo E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Saide
authors.affiliation: Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D011634:Public Health
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Beijing; Economic losses; Haze; Health impacts; PM(2.5); WRF-Chem