Challenges and perspectives of air pollution control in China

Highlights

● Major challenges of air pollution control in China are summarized.

● A“health-oriented” air pollution control strategy is proposed.

● Directions of air quality standard amendments are discussed.

● “One-atmosphere” concept shall be adopted to synergistically address multiple issues.

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the most challenging environmental issues in the world. China has achieved remarkable success in improving air quality in last decade as a result of aggressive air pollution control policies. However, the average fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentration in China is still about six times of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) and causing significant human health risks. Extreme emission reductions of multiple air pollutants are required for China to achieve the AQG. Here we identify the major challenges in future air quality improvement and propose corresponding control strategies. The main challenges include the persistently high health risk attributed to PM_2.5 pollution, the excessively loose air quality standards, and coordinated control of air pollution, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and emerging pollutants. To further improve air quality and protect human health, a health-oriented air pollution control strategy shall be implemented by tightening the air quality standards as well as optimizing emission reduction pathways based on the health risks of various sources. In the meantime, an “one-atmosphere” concept shall be adopted to strengthen the synergistic control of air pollutants and GHGs and the control of non-combustion sources and emerging pollutants shall be enhanced.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Air pollution / China / Health impact / Air quality standards / GHGs / Emerging pollutants

Full size|PPT slide

Shuxiao Wang is a Full Professor at School of Environment, Tsinghua University. She received a B.S. and M.S. from School of Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Tsinghua University. Then she completed a 2-year postdoctoral training at Harvard University before joining Tsinghua University as an Assistant Professor in 2003. In 2011 she was promoted to a Full Professor. She has been directoring the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex in China since 2017. Her research interests focus on sources, atmospheric chemistry, health impacts, interactions between climate and air, and control policies. She has published over 400 peer-reviewed journal papers, which have been cited for more than 32000 times with an H-index of 96 (Google Scholar). She has been Global Highly Cited Scientist since 2019. She is Associate Editor for two journals: ES&T and ES&T Letters. She also serves as Scientific Committee Member of Asia-Pacific Clean Air Partnership and the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution

Full size|PPT slide

Jiming Hao is a Professor in School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Foreign Academician of U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He earned a B.S. from Tsinghua University in 1970, a M.S. from Tsinghua University in 1981, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 1984. Prof. Hao’s major research interests are energy and the environment, air pollution control, greenhouse gas reduction and circular economy. He led the designation of China’s acid rain control measures, developed the methodology of urban vehicle pollution control planning, and pushed the process of China’s vehicle pollution control. He also developed theories and technical strategies for improving air quality in megacities and promoted the joint regional air pollution control in China. Prof. Hao is the Dean of the Research Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University and the Director of Beijing Laboratory of Environmental Frontier Technologies. He serves as the Member of the International Council on Clean Transportation, Member of the National Ecological Environment Protection Expert Committee. He also holds the additional role of Chair of the Science Advisory Committee on Air Pollution Control in the Asia-Pacific region for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

References

[1] Abdillah S F I, Wang Y F. (2023). Ambient ultrafine particle (PM_0.1): sources, characteristics, measurements and exposure implications on human health. Environmental Research, 218: 115061

[2] Chang X, Zhao B, Zheng H, Wang S, Cai S, Guo F, Gui P, Huang G, Wu D, Han L. . (2022). Full-volatility emission framework corrects missing and underestimated secondary organic aerosol sources. One Earth, 5(4): 403–412

[3] Cheng J, Tong D, Liu Y, Geng G, Davis S J, He K, Zhang Q. (2023). A synergistic approach to air pollution control and carbon neutrality in China can avoid millions of premature deaths annually by 2060. One Earth, 6(8): 978–989

[4] Enyoh C E, Verla A W, Qingyue W, Ohiagu F O, Chowdhury A H, Enyoh E C, Chowdhury T, Verla E N, Chinwendu U P. (2020). An overview of emerging pollutants in air: method of analysis and potential public health concern from human environmental exposure. Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, 28: e00107

[5] Gu Y, Wong T W, Law C K, Dong G H, Ho K F, Yang Y, Yim S H L. (2018). Impacts of sectoral emissions in China and the implications: air quality, public health, crop production, and economic costs. Environmental Research Letters, 13(8): 084008

[6] Henneman L, Choirat C, Dedoussi I, Dominici F, Roberts J, Zigler C. (2023). Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation. Science, 382(6673): 941–946

[7] Hu Y, Ji J S, Zhao B. (2022). Deaths attributable to indoor PM_2.5 in urban China when outdoor air meets 2021 WHO air quality guidelines. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(22): 15882–15891

[8] Instituteof Energy of Peking University (2023). China Dispersed Coal Management Report 2023. Beijing: Institute of Energy, Peking University

[9] Jiang Y, Ding D, Dong Z, Liu S, Chang X, Zheng H, Xing J, Wang S. (2023). Extreme emission reduction requirements for China to achieve World Health Organization global air quality guidelines. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(11): 4424–4433

[10] Barroso P J, Santos J L, Martín J, Aparicio I, Alonso E.. (2019). Emerging contaminants in the atmosphere: Analysis, occurrence and future challenges. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 49(2): 104–171

[11] KanHChenR J FuQ YNiu Y (2023). Development of health-oriented standards of ambient air quality: methodology to set and its practice in Shanghai, China. Shanghai: Fudan University

[12] Lei Y, Yin Z, Lu X, Zhang Q, Gong J, Cai B, Cai C, Chai Q, Chen H, Chen R. . (2024). The 2022 report of synergetic roadmap on carbon neutrality and clean air for China: accelerating transition in key sectors. Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 19: 100335

[13] Li S, Wang S, Wu Q, Zhang Y, Ouyang D, Zheng H, Han L, Qiu X, Wen Y, Liu M. . (2023). Emission trends of air pollutants and CO₂ in China from 2005 to 2021. Earth System Science Data, 15(6): 2279–2294

[14] Liu N, Liu W, Deng F, Liu Y, Gao X, Fang L, Chen Z, Tang H, Hong S, Pan M. . (2023a). The burden of disease attributable to indoor air pollutants in China from 2000 to 2017. Lancet. Planetary Health, 7(11): e900–e911

[15] Liu S, Tian H, Zhu C, Cheng K, Wang Y, Luo L, Bai X, Hao Y, Lin S, Zhao S. . (2023b). Reduced but still noteworthy atmospheric pollution of trace elements in China. One Earth, 6(5): 536–547

[16] Liu Y, Tong D, Cheng J, Davis S J, Yu S, Yarlagadda B, Clarke L E, Brauer M, Cohen A J, Kan H. . (2022). Role of climate goals and clean-air policies on reducing future air pollution deaths in China: a modelling study. Lancet. Planetary Health, 6(2): e92–e99

[17] Ministryof EcologyEnvironmentof China (2023). Bulletin on the State of China’s Ecological Environment. Beijing: Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China

[18] Mrozik W, Rajaeifar M A, Heidrich O, Christensen P. (2021). Environmental impacts, pollution sources and pathways of spent lithium-ion batteries. Energy & Environmental Science, 14(12): 6099–6121

[19] Nielsen C J, Herrmann H, Weller C. (2012). Atmospheric chemistry and environmental impact of the use of amines in carbon capture and storage (CCS). Chemical Society Reviews, 41(19): 6684–6704

[20] Ohlwein S, Kappeler R, Kutlar Joss M, Künzli N, Hoffmann B. (2019). Health effects of ultrafine particles: a systematic literature review update of epidemiological evidence. International Journal of Public Health, 64(4): 547–559

[21] Pye H O T, Ward-Caviness C K, Murphy B N, Appel K W, Seltzer K M. (2021). Secondary organic aerosol association with cardiorespiratory disease mortality in the United States. Nature Communications, 12(1): 7215

[22] Schraufnagel D E. (2020). The health effects of ultrafine particles. Experimental & Molecular Medicine, 52(3): 311–317

[23] Song Q, Zhang N, Zhang Y, Yin D, Hao J, Wang S, Li S, Xu W, Yan W, Meng X. . (2024). The development of local ambient air quality standards: a case study of Hainan Province, China. Eco-Environment & Health, 3(1): 11–20

[24] Strak M, Weinmayr G, Rodopoulou S, Chen J, De Hoogh K, Andersen Z J, Atkinson R, Bauwelinck M, Bekkevold T, Bellander T. . (2021). Long term exposure to low level air pollution and mortality in eight European cohorts within the ELAPSE project: pooled analysis. BMJ, 374: n1904

[25] Tawalbeh M, Al-Othman A, Kafiah F, Abdelsalam E, Almomani F, Alkasrawi M. (2021). Environmental impacts of solar photovoltaic systems: a critical review of recent progress and future outlook. Science of the Total Environment, 759: 143528

[26] Weichenthal S, Pinault L, Christidis T, Burnett R T, Brook J R, Chu Y, Crouse D L, Erickson A C, Hystad P, Li C. . (2022). How low can you go? Air pollution affects mortality at very low levels. Science Advances, 8(39): eabo3381

[27] Wu D, Zheng H, Li Q, Jin L, Lyu R, Ding X, Huo Y, Zhao B, Jiang J, Chen J. . (2022). Toxic potency-adjusted control of air pollution for solid fuel combustion. Nature Energy, 7(2): 194–202

[28] Wu D, Zheng H, Li Q, Wang S, Zhao B, Jin L, Lyu R, Li S, Liu Y, Chen X. . (2023). Achieving health-oriented air pollution control requires integrating unequal toxicities of industrial particles. Nature Communications, 14(1): 6491

[29] Xue T, Zheng Y, Li X, Liu J, Zhang Q, Zhu T. (2021). A component-specific exposure–mortality model for ambient PM_2.5 in China: findings from nationwide epidemiology based on outputs from a chemical transport model. Faraday Discussions, 226: 551–568

[30] Yao L, Garmash O, Bianchi F, Zheng J, Yan C, Kontkanen J, Junninen H, Mazon S B, Ehn M, Paasonen P. . (2018). Atmospheric new particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines in a Chinese megacity. Science, 361(6399): 278–281

[31] Zhang X, Gu B, Van Grinsven H, Lam S K, Liang X, Bai M, Chen D. (2020). Societal benefits of halving agricultural ammonia emissions in China far exceed the abatement costs. Nature Communications, 11(1): 4357

[32] Zhao B, Zheng H, Wang S, Smith K R, Lu X, Aunan K, Gu Y, Wang Y, Ding D, Xing J. . (2018). Change in household fuels dominates the decrease in PM_2.5 exposure and premature mortality in China in 2005–2015. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(49): 12401–12406

[33] Zheng H, Li S, Jiang Y, Dong Z, Yin D, Zhao B, Wu Q, Liu K, Zhang S, Wu Y. . (2024). Unpacking the factors contributing to changes in PM_2.5-associated mortality in China from 2013 to 2019. Environment International, 184: 108470

[34] ZhengH (2021). Study on the trends of sources and health impacts of fine particulate matters in China. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Beijing: Tsinghua University

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22188102) and the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2022YFC3702905). We also thank the support from Tsinghua-TOYOTA Joint Research Center.

Conflict of Interests

Jiming Hao is an advisory board member of Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Open Access

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s) 2024. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn