Assessment On Economic Losses Of Human Health From Air Pollution In Jinan

Along with the rapid development of social economy, sudden increase of population, improvement of material life and rising of welfare in their production and life course, meanwhile, they also have given rise to negative influence on environment and have paid for the huge environment cost for the serious pollution. Urban air pollution affects human health and causes huge economic losses to the society. Therefore people pay more attention to the problem of urban ambient air pollution worldwide.Our research reviewed the current progress of related studies at home and abroad. Air quality and adverse effects of air pollution on health were analyzed, summarized and compared.Human health losses caused by urban air pollution were analyzed with economic theory by referring to related achievements which were made by scholars. Based on economic theory, analyze the economic nature, character and reason of regarding air pollution as an environmental product. On the basis of environmental toxicology and epidemiology, analyze the impaction on people health under the exposure of certain time and air pollution concentration, and systematically discuss the related research methods. Analyze the relationship among air pollution, health utility and health economic loss through the theoretic economic model.Based on field survey, apply dose response function, illness costs approach and willingness to pay method to the quantitative analysis of air pollution-induced health-related economic losses in Jinan. And then, construct the empirical research of air pollution-induced health-related economic losses in Jinan.Daily air pollution level of major pollutants, number of daily outpatient suffering from respiratory diseases and their relationship were analyzed in 2005 (2005.1.1-2005.12.31). Dose-response function was determined and quantitative model was established which followed the calculation of losses by adopting illness costs approach. Results show that, at the hypothetical situation that other pollutants maintain at certain concentration, SO₂ incurs a total of 7.05 million Yuan health-related economic losses for patients with respiratory system diseases when its daily concentration rise 10 percent While applying the same hypothesis as SO2, every 10 percent raise of PM₁₀ causes a total loss of 58.8 1 million Yuan for patients with respiratory system diseases. Suppose PM₁₀ daily concentration deteriorated from air quality 1 Class standard (daily concentration, 0.05 mg/m³) to 2 Class standard (daily concentration, 0.15 mg/m³), the number of respiratory system diseases outpatients rise 11.4 percent according to dose-response function. We then calculated the loss was about 0.71 billion Yuan. Questionnaire investigation on 1555 respondents was also canied out in Jinan. Results showed mat, residents in 5 districts were willingness to pay 0.51 billion Yuan to improve air quality from 2 Class standard to 1 Class standard and avoid respiratory system diseases.The study existed many pitfalls which were limited by many factors such as knowledge level, evaluation technique and statistical information. Due to the restriction on accessibility of material, the results were based on given meaning and certain condition. However, it was quite useful as important references in related studies in China.