Air Pollution and Health Damages in China: An Introduction and Review

The authorities have responded to this challenge, and there has been clear progress in some areas of pollution control. As a result of these actions, and concurrent changes in economic policies and the structure of the economy, concentrations of SO2 and total suspended particulates (TSP) declined in many places, especially during the 1990s. For instance, total SO2 emissions fell 10% between 1995 and 1999, and the averaged ambient concentrations in thirty-two major cities declined from 100 mg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) in 1991 to 62 mg/m3 in 1998 (World Bank 2001). Another compilation of official data reports that annual average TSP across 140 Chinese cities fell from a mean of 500 mg/m3 in 1986 to 300 mg/m3 in 1997 (Florig et al. 2002).