Mortality burdens in California due to air pollution attributable to local and nonlocal emissions

Tianyang Wang; Bin Zhao; Kuo-Nan Liou; Yu Gu; Zhe Jiang; Kathleen Song; Hui Su; Michael Jerrett; Yifang Zhu

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105232

Mortality burdens in California due to air pollution attributable to local and nonlocal emissions

Environ Int. 2019 Dec;133(Pt B):105232. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105232. Epub 2019 Oct 26.

Authors

Tianyang Wang¹, Bin Zhao², Kuo-Nan Liou³, Yu Gu³, Zhe Jiang⁴, Kathleen Song⁵, Hui Su⁶, Michael Jerrett⁷, Yifang Zhu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environment and Sustainability, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
² Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, United States.
³ Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
⁴ Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: jiangzhe@mail.iap.ac.cn.
⁵ Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States.
⁶ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States.
⁷ Department of Environmental Health Science, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
⁸ Institute of Environment and Sustainability, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Environmental Health Science, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: yifang@ucla.edu.

Abstract

Limited research has been conducted on the contributions of local and nonlocal emission sources to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃) and their associated mortality. In this study, we estimated the total mortality resulting from long-term PM_2.5 and O₃ exposures in California in 2012 using multiple concentration response functions (CRFs) and attributed the estimated mortality to different emission groups. The point estimates of PM_2.5-associated mortality in California ranged from 12,700 to 26,700, of which 53% were attributable to in-state anthropogenic emissions. Based on new epidemiological evidence, we estimated that O₃ could be associated with up to 13,700 deaths from diseases of both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems in California. In addition, 75% of the ambient O₃ in California was due to distant emissions outside the western United States, leading to 92% of the O₃-associated mortality. Overall, distant emissions lead to greater mortality burdens of air pollution in California than local anthropogenic emissions.

Keywords: Emissions; Fine particulate matter; Mortality; Ozone.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollution
California
Ozone / analysis*
Particulate Matter / analysis*
United States

Substances

Particulate Matter
Ozone

Grants and funding

80NSSC18K0985/ImNASA/Intramural NASA/United States