Population exposure to PM2.5 in the urban area of Beijing

PLoS One. 2013 May 2;8(5):e63486. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063486. Print 2013.

Abstract

The air quality in Beijing, especially its PM2.5 level, has become of increasing public concern because of its importance and sensitivity related to health risks. A set of monitored PM2.5 data from 31 stations, released for the first time by the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, covering 37 days during autumn 2012, was processed using spatial interpolation and overlay analysis. Following analyses of these data, a distribution map of cumulative exceedance days of PM2.5 and a temporal variation map of PM2.5 for Beijing have been drawn. Computational and analytical results show periodic and directional trends of PM2.5 spreading and congregating in space, which reveals the regulation of PM2.5 overexposure on a discontinuous medium-term scale. With regard to the cumulative effect of PM2.5 on the human body, the harm from lower intensity overexposure in the medium term, and higher overexposure in the short term, are both obvious. Therefore, data of population distribution were integrated into the aforementioned PM2.5 spatial spectrum map. A spatial statistical analysis revealed the patterns of PM2.5 gross exposure and exposure probability of residents in the Beijing urban area. The methods and conclusions of this research reveal relationships between long-term overexposure to PM2.5 and people living in high-exposure areas of Beijing, during the autumn of 2012.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollution / statistics & numerical data
  • China
  • Cities / statistics & numerical data*
  • Environmental Exposure / standards
  • Environmental Exposure / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Particulate Matter / analysis*
  • Particulate Matter / standards
  • Probability
  • Reference Standards
  • Seasons
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis

Substances

  • Particulate Matter

Grants and funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (41201412). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.