Air Pollution

Special Report 20, Burden of Disease Attributable to Coal-Burning and Other Major Sources of Air Pollution in China, provides the first comprehensive assessment of the current and predicted burdens of disease attributable to coal-burning and other major sources of particulate matter air pollution (PM_2.5) in China at the national and provincial levels. It is the result of the Global Burden of Disease – Major Air Pollution Sources (GDB MAPS) project, an international collaboration of Tsinghua University, the Health Effects Institute, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), and the University of British Columbia. The analyses show that coal combustion is the single largest source of air pollution-related health impact, contributing to some 366,000 premature deaths in China in 2013, with industry and household combustion as major contributors as well. The report also indicates that health burdens could grow substantially by 2030 if no further action is taken. 燃煤和其他主要大气污染源所致的中国疾病负担 (Special Report 20 in Chinese)

专题报告20，燃煤和其他主要大气污染源所致的中国疾病负担。报告从国家与省级层面，对中国燃煤及其他主要空气污染源释放的细颗粒物（PM_2.5）所造成当前及未来疾病负担进行了第一次综合评估。此项报告由清华大学、健康影响研究所、健康指标和评估研究所（IHME）与不列颠哥伦比亚大学联合发布，是全球疾病负担-主要空气污染源（GDB MAPS）这一国际合作项目的研究结果。分析表明，燃煤是造成空气污染、影响健康的最大元凶。2013年，仅燃煤一项在中国就导致约36.6万人过早死亡，其中以工业与民用燃煤影响最为重大。报告还指出，如不采取进一步行动，到2030年健康负担将会大幅增加。Burden of Disease Attributable to Coal-Burning and Other Air Pollution Sources in China (in English)

HEI Research Report 188 analyzes associations between increases in various air pollution exposure metrics and increased risks of preterm birth. Jun Wu was funded under HEI's Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award to conduct a comprehensive nested, case-control study of air pollution and adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes, using birth certificate data collected in California from 2001 to 2008. 

HEI Research Report 187 was funded as part of HEI’s Accountability research program, aimed at understanding whether actions to improve air quality have resulted in improved health outcomes. Corwin M. Zigler and his colleagues used existing and newly developed statistical methods to assess whether an intervention was causally related to changes in pollutant levels or health outcomes, and applied their methods in two well-developed case studies: effects of air quality interventions to reduce PM₁₀ concentrations in nonattainment areas and the impact of installation of scrubber technologies on emissions from coal-fired power plants.