Avoided mortality by particulate air pollution control measures in China

Since 2006, China has undertaken essential efforts to reverse the sharp atmospheric pollution increase, especially to reduce fine particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>). Using satellite observations, we developed a scenario-based method to quantify the PM<sub>2.5</sub>-related excess mortality avoided through air pollution control measures in China. By lowering PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations to 2018-2019 (pre-COVID-19) levels, Chinese authorities helped prevent approximately 655,000 excess deaths per year compared to moderate mitigation and 1.28 million compared to no mitigation. Within about a decade, Chinese policies prevented the annual loss of up to 19.2 million life-years and a life expectancy reduction of 1.2 years. Our results suggest that continued reductions in PM<sub>2.5</sub> at this pace over the next few decades could essentially diminish the health burden of air pollution.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Science of The Total Environment
Published
2025-10-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180566
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Air Quality and Health Impacts
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.40
Controls
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article

Avoided mortality by particulate air pollution control measures in China

Jos Lelieveld, Hang Su, Klaus Klingmüller, Muhammad Bilal et al.
2 citations
The Science of The Total Environment
Air Quality and Health Impacts
2.40
article

Avoided mortality by particulate air pollution control measures in China

Jos Lelieveld, Hang Su, Klaus Klingmüller, Muhammad Bilal, Aristeidis K. Georgoulias, Dimitris Akritidis, Georgia Alexandri, Prodromos Zanis, Andrea Pozzer, Yafang Cheng
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Since 2006, China has undertaken essential efforts to reverse the sharp atmospheric pollution increase, especially to reduce fine particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>). Using satellite observations, we developed a scenario-based method to quantify the PM<sub>2.5</sub>-related excess mortality avoided through air pollution control measures in China. By lowering PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentrations to 2018-2019 (pre-COVID-19) levels, Chinese authorities helped prevent approximately 655,000 excess deaths per year compared to moderate mitigation and 1.28 million compared to no mitigation. Within about a decade, Chinese policies prevented the annual loss of up to 19.2 million life-years and a life expectancy reduction of 1.2 years. Our results suggest that continued reductions in PM<sub>2.5</sub> at this pace over the next few decades could essentially diminish the health burden of air pollution.

The Science of The Total EnvironmentVol. 1002
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (SA), Cyprus Institute (CY), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (DE), Institute of Atmospheric Physics (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Air Quality and Health Impacts
2.40
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Avoided mortality by particulate air pollution control measures in China — Jos Lelieveld, Hang Su, et al. · The Science of The Total Environment (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS