41 / 2021-06-10 16:41:48

Comparison of three air pollution indices based on health-risk

Grey correlation analysis; Shanghai; HAQI; API; AQHI

Epidemiology has found that exposure to air pollutants is closely related to human health. It is very important to establish communication between air pollutants exposure and human health. However, the current AQI method used in China has been criticized for underestimating the impact on human health. It is based on the maximum value of a single pollutant and does not take into account the combined health effects of exposure to the environment. In this study, three air quality indices, including health risk based air quality index (HAQI), air pollution index (API) and air quality health index (AQHI), were calculated to account for the impact of health risks in specific cities. Grey correlation analysis was used to compare the consistency of three indices (HAQI, API, AQHI) with daily mortality trends (all-cause mortality, respiratory disease mortality, circulatory system disease mortality). The calculation methods of the three indices are analyzed to provide a reference for finding a way to reflect the total health impact of air pollutant exposure. The results show that API can simulate the trend of all-cause mortality most comprehensively when one or more pollutants simultaneously exceed the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (Liu, 2013 #33) 24-hour Grade II standards. HAQI and AQI are more correlated with mortality when two or more pollutants simultaneously exceed the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) 24-hour Grade II standards. Overall, API can reflect the trend of all-cause mortality more comprehensively. In addition, API has a high correlation with circulatory system mortality, while HAQI and AQHI are associated with respiratory mortality. Compared with API, HAQI and AQHI underestimated the severity of health risks associated with exposure to multi-pollutant air pollution. In addition, the analysis of the three indexes shows that the main task at this stage is the classification of health risk. In other words, it is necessary to assess how much of the risk value of the combined effects of multiple pollutants has an impact on the human.