New study reveals cost of pollution in China

A new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has revealed that air pollution cost the Chinese economy $112 billion in 2005, compared with $22 billion in 1975.

The study, by researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, takes into account costs associated with health impacts from ozone and particulate matter, which can  lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Researchers addressed the long term impacts as well as the immediate costs air pollution has, and found two main causes for the increase in cost.

The first is rapid urbanisation, which has led to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai becoming densely populated. As a result, more people have become exposed to the pollution. Secondly, higher incomes have raised the costs associated with lost productivity due to illness and general poor health.

Noelle Selin, an assistant professor of engineering systems and atmospheric chemistry at MIT, said:  “The results clearly indicate that ozone and particulate matter have substantially impacted the Chinese economy over the past 30 years.”

This study complements many that have gone before it, such as the World Health Organization’s estimates in 2007 that 656,000 Chinese die prematurely each year from ailments caused by indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Published by Claire Manning