Air pollution linked to 500,000 premature deaths in China

(ECNS) -- Former Health Minister Chen Zhu said that poor air quality in China was responsible for 350,000 to 500,000 premature deaths in China every year, China.org.cn reported on Tuesday.

Chen's view was expressed in a report, "China tackles health effects of air pollution," published in Lancet on Dec 14, 2013.

Based on studies released by the World Bank, WHO, and China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, the report concludes that air pollution is linked to 350,000 to 500,000 premature deaths in China.

The number is much lower than in the "Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010)" published in Lancet on Dec 14, 2012, which said that air pollution was linked with 1.2 million premature deaths in China.

"The report 'China tackles health effects of air pollution' only focuses on the impact of PM10, particles less than 10 mm in diameter, on human health, while the GBD 2010 also includes PM2.5 as its evaluation target," according to Yang Gonghuan, one of the writers of the GBD 2010.

" 'China tackles health effects of air pollution' is a report designed to highlight air pollution's great impacts on human health," said Wang Jinnan, a co-author of the report.

The report also says China's efforts to control air pollution will help improve people's health condition.

The country plans to invest 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) to combat air pollution over the next five years.

A research released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection shows that if the annual average PM10 concentrations can be reduced to 40 μg/m3, 200,000 people can be saved from premature deaths caused by air pollution.