PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentration declining saves health expenditure in China

doi:10.1007/s11783-023-1690-4

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (7) : 90 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1690-4

RESEARCH ARTICLE

PM_2.5 concentration declining saves health expenditure in China

Yang Xie^1,², Hua Zhong^1,², Zhixiong Weng³(

), Xinbiao Guo⁴, Satbyul Estella Kim⁵, Shaowei Wu⁶

¹. School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
². Laboratory for Low-carbon Intelligent Governance, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
³. Institute of Circular Economy, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
⁴. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
⁵. Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
⁶. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710049, China

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Abstract

● Monthly hospitalization expenses are sensitive to increases in PM_2.5 exposure.

● The increased PM_2.5 causes patients with CHD and LRI to stay longer in the hospital.

● The impact of PM_2.5 on total expenses for stroke is greater in southern China.

● Males may be more sensitive to air pollution than females.

Air pollution has been a severe issue in China. Exposure to PM_2.5 has adverse health effects and causes economic losses. This study investigated the economic impact of exposure to PM_2.5 pollution using monthly city-level data covering 88.5 million urban employees in 2016 and 2017. This study mainly focused on three expenditure indicators to measure the economic impact considering lower respiratory infections (LRIs), coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke. The results show that a 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 would cause total monthly expenses of LRIs, CHD, and stroke to increase by 0.226%, 0.237%, and 0.374%, respectively. We also found that LRI, CHD, and stroke hospital admissions increased significantly by 10%, 8.42%, and 5.64%, respectively. Furthermore, the total hospital stays of LRIs, CHDs, and strokes increased by 2.49%, 2. 51%, and 1.64%, respectively. Our findings also suggest heterogeneous impacts of PM_2.5 exposures by sex and across regions, but no statistical evidence shows significant differences between the older and younger adult subgroups. Our results provide several policy implications for reducing unequal public health expenditures in overpolluted countries.

Keywords Air pollution Health expenditure PM_2.5 concentration Economic impact Heterogeneous effect

Corresponding Author(s): Zhixiong Weng

Issue Date: 16 February 2023

Cite this article:

Yang Xie,Hua Zhong,Zhixiong Weng, et al. PM_2.5 concentration declining saves health expenditure in China[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(7): 90.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-023-1690-4
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2023/V17/I7/90

Tab.1 City samples in 18 provincial regions

Tab.2 Regression of each 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 on total monthly expenses of LRIs during 2016–2017

Tab.3 Robustness check of per 10 µg/m³ increase in ambient PM_2.5 on health care and health expenditures

Tab.4 Regression of per 10 µg/m³ increase in ambient PM_2.5 on hospitalisation expenditures in different regions

Tab.5 Regression of per 10 µg/m³ increase in ambient PM_2.5 on health care by gender

Tab.6 Regression of per 10 µg/m³ increase in ambient PM_2.5 on health care by age

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