Health impacts and spatiotemporal variations of fine particulate and its typical toxic constituents in five urban agglomerations of China.

Abstract Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and its constituents pose great threatens to public health. The spatial-temporal characteristics of some key chemical constituents, such as sulfate, nitrate, and especially toxic trace elements in China has remained unclear, limiting further studies on evaluating the associated public health. Here, we conduct a two-yearlong (2012 and 2015) air quality simulation by coupling localized emission inventory for primary air pollutants and trace elements with a modified CMAQ model in a domain of China and five urban agglomerations. Associated health burdens of PM2.5 and various toxic trace elements are assessed applying exposure assessment models. The model successfully reproduces air pollution situations. Significant spatial-temporal variations of PM2.5 and chemical constituents are observed, with higher concentrations mainly occurred in North China Plain (NCP), Fenwei Plain (FWP) and Sichuan-Chongqing Basin (SCB). All chemical constituents in PM2.5 show higher concentrations in winter except for sulfate. From 2012 to 2015, the annual averaged PM2.5 concentration and its constituents decreased by 3% –20% nationally and regionally. Smaller reductions of nitrate make PM2.5 pollution become nitrate-dominated, especially in winter. Approximately 0.28 million deaths related to PM2.5 in China are avoided, while the population affected by the cancer risks of Cr (VI) and arsenic has slightly increased from 2012 to 2015. Our findings could provide critical insights on the mitigation of air pollution, as well as benefit for epidemiological studies on air pollutants related health effects.