Air pollution impacts on public health: Evidence from 110 cities in Yangtze River Economic Belt of China

Abstract

This study intends to further reveal the relationship between air pollution and public health on a city scale in China and explore the spillover effect among cities. On the basis of collecting the panel data of 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2010 to 2018, we establish a spatial econometric model to analyze the impacts of air pollution, economic development, and other factors on public health. According to the results, a significant spatial correlation exists between the public health and air pollution levels in all of the cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Air pollution also shows a spillover effect among these cities; the relationships between the industrial fume (dust) emissions, industrial sulfur dioxide emissions, and particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentration and the public health level are not simple linear relationships, but instead U-shaped curvilinear relationships. The economic development in recent years has contributed to the improvement of the public health level of the cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. The economic development of their neighboring cities, however, has adversely affected the public health levels of these cities.

Keywords: Air pollution; Economic development; Public health; Yangtze River Economic Belt.