Air Pollution and Health Impacts of Atmospheric PM: Application of AirQ+ Model to Jiangsu Province in China

Air pollution is a major environmental issue worldwide. To investigate the changes of the atmospheric environment under the national policy, we analyzed 6 air pollutants (including PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , 8h-O 3 , NO 2 and CO) of 13 prefecture-level cities from 2014 to 2021. A great difference was observed among the 13 cities, and the concentrations of air pollutants decreased from 2014 to 2021 in Jiangsu. To further assess the effect of air pollutants on human health, we estimated all-cause annual mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality due to atmospheric PM by AirQ+ . The effect of PM on total mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality decreased during 2014–2019. It was suggested that the air pollution will cause detrimental effect on human health and more deaths, which must be further prevented and controlled by any effective actions taken by the government. Article Highlights Air pollution in Jiangsu Province during 2014–2021. Spatial and temporal variations in Jiangsu Province during 2014–2021. The impact of exposure to PM 2.5 and PM 10 in Jiangsu was estimated by AirQ+ software.