Curbing China’s Pollution Can Prevent 3 Million Deaths a Year (Study)

Beijing – Adopting and enforcing tighter air quality standards in China could save 3 million premature deaths each year and may bring about tremendous public health benefits, a study said on Wednesday.

The average daily particle concentration in 38 of China’s largest cities between January 2010 and June 2013 was about 93 microgrammes per cubic metre (ug/m3) of air, researchers reported in The BMJ medical journal.

This was way over the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of 20 ug/m3.

Premature deaths are defined by researchers as people dying before reaching a certain, expected age for their peer group.

Over 350,000 deaths were reported in the 38 Chinese cities chosen for the study in three-and-a-half years, said the researchers.

People over 60 had a higher risk of death from particle pollution, and women were more affected than men, said the team.

It also found that the most polluted city was Urumqi in Xinjiang province and the least polluted one was Qinhuangdao (Hebei Province).

China, India, Iran and Indonesia are among the countries hardest hit by air pollution.