PM_2.5 concentration declining saves health expenditure in China

Highlights

● Monthly hospitalization expenses are sensitive to increases in PM_2.5 exposure.

● The increased PM_2.5 causes patients with CHD and LRI to stay longer in the hospital.

● The impact of PM_2.5 on total expenses for stroke is greater in southern China.

● Males may be more sensitive to air pollution than females.

Abstract

Air pollution has been a severe issue in China. Exposure to PM_2.5 has adverse health effects and causes economic losses. This study investigated the economic impact of exposure to PM_2.5 pollution using monthly city-level data covering 88.5 million urban employees in 2016 and 2017. This study mainly focused on three expenditure indicators to measure the economic impact considering lower respiratory infections (LRIs), coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke. The results show that a 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 would cause total monthly expenses of LRIs, CHD, and stroke to increase by 0.226%, 0.237%, and 0.374%, respectively. We also found that LRI, CHD, and stroke hospital admissions increased significantly by 10%, 8.42%, and 5.64%, respectively. Furthermore, the total hospital stays of LRIs, CHDs, and strokes increased by 2.49%, 2. 51%, and 1.64%, respectively. Our findings also suggest heterogeneous impacts of PM_2.5 exposures by sex and across regions, but no statistical evidence shows significant differences between the older and younger adult subgroups. Our results provide several policy implications for reducing unequal public health expenditures in overpolluted countries.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Air pollution / Health expenditure / PM_2.5 concentration / Economic impact / Heterogeneous effect

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Collaborative Research Fund 2021/22 (Project title: “Turning 2060 Carbon Neutrality into Reality: a cross-disciplinary study of air pollution and health co-benefits of climate change mitigation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA)”, Project No. C7041-21GF) of the Hong Kong Research Grant Council (China), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72134006).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1690-4 and is accessible for authorized users.

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