Assessing outdoor air quality and public health impact attributable to residential black carbon emissions in rural China

Gu, Yefu; Zhang, Weishi; Yang, Yuanjian; Wang, Can; Streets, David G.; Yim, Steve Lam

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104812

Assessing outdoor air quality and public health impact attributable to residential black carbon emissions in rural China

Journal Article · Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Resources, Conservation and Recycling

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104812· OSTI ID:1774895

Gu, Yefu ^[1]; ^[2]; Yang, Yuanjian ^[3]; Wang, Can ^[4]; Streets, David G. ^[5]; Yim, Steve Lam ^[1]

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (China)
Tianjin Normal University (China); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (China); Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (China)
Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Black carbon (BC) is a significant component of particulate matter (PM) that relates to air pollution, climate forcing, and further implications for public health. BC is predominantly released from the combustion of solid fuels. Combustion of low-quality fuels in rural China may induce severe respiratory and cardiopulmonary health outcomes for residents, which have however been inadequately assessed. One major reason for the limited understanding is the lack of a high-resolution inventory. An improved method of estimating the BC-associated public health burden is needed. This work quantified premature mortalities due to residential BC emissions in rural China. Domestic BC emissions at 1×1 km resolution were compiled based on previous field investigation, which were further configured for air quality simulation. A chemistry transport model, WRF–CMAQ v5.2, was employed for simulating BC concentrations. The consequent premature mortalities were quantified by a BC-specific concentration-response function (CRF) derived from an epidemiological study. Results show that residential combustion of solid fuel in rural China emitted 648.0 Gg (95%CI: 361.0–965.9) BC in 2014, after dispersion, accounting for 51.8% of annual mean ground-level BC concentration in China. Such impact was most severe in North and Northeast China, and the Sichuan Basin. The further investigation estimated 171,000 (95%CI: 69,000–387,000) premature mortalities that were attributable to exposure to rural residential BC. These findings reveal the major contribution of rural residential BC emissions to air pollution formation and public health impacts. Our findings are anticipated to provide useful information for enacting the next-stage environmental strategy for the residential sector in China.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Key Research and Development Program of China; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1774895

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1894157

Journal Information:: Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Journal Name: Resources, Conservation and Recycling Vol. 159; ISSN 0921-3449

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
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Assessing outdoor air quality and public health impact attributable to residential black carbon emissions in rural China

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