Health Benefit Assessment Of PM_2.5 Control Using An Improved Methodology Of Model-Monitor Data Fusion

In recent years,the rapid development of industrialization and urbanlization has brought huge environmental burdens to various countries and regions,especially fine particulate matter(PM_2.5)pollution,which has caused a great negative impact on human health.To reduce PM_2.5 pollution and protect public health,the State Council of China has implemented the Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan?hereafter Action Plan?.The Pearl River Delta?PRD?,one of the most polluted and populous regions of China,experienced dramatic reductions in PM_2.5 concentrations between 2013 and 2015 due to the Action Plan.In order to evaluate the health benefits of air quality improvement,this study establishes a health benefit evaluation system based on model-monitor data fusion,which integrates Data Fusion tool and BenMAP-CE.The Data Fusion tool is used to fuse model results and monitoring data to obtain more reasonable air quality grid data and provide as input file for BenMAP-CE.BenMAP-CE is used to estimate the health impact and quantify the economic benefit with reasonable geographic spatial distribution.Therefore,the system can build up a comprehensive relationship between air pollution control measures,governance objectives of pollution control and health benefits,providing a scientific assessment of the effectiveness of the Action Plan,or optimizing the control measures that meet the policy requirements and gain maximum benefits at the same time.In this study,the health and economic benefits associated with PM_2.5 reductions in PRD during 2013 to 2015 were estimated using the BenMAP-CE.To create reliable gridded PM_2.5surfaces for BenMAP-CE calculations,the Data Fusion tool which incorporates the accuracy of monitoring data and the spatial coverage of predictions from the Community Multiscale Air Quality?CMAQ?model has been developed.The population-weighted average PM_2.5concentration over PRD was predicted to decline by 24%from 45?g·m^-3 in 2013 to 34?g·m^-33 in 2015.PM_2.5-related mortality was estimated to decrease by more than 3800 due to decreases in stroke?48%?,ischemic heart disease?IHD??35%?,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?COPD??10%?,and lung cancer?LC??7%?.A 13%reduction in total deaths yielded a large economic benefit of about 8.8 billion CNY.Our research affirms the effectiveness of the Action Plan and will encourage policy makers to implement additional measures to protect public health in the future.