Role of export industries on ozone pollution and its precursors in China

Abstract

This study seeks to estimate how global supply chain relocates emissions of tropospheric ozone precursors and its impacts in shaping ozone formation. Here we show that goods produced in China for foreign markets lead to an increase of domestic non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) emissions by 3.5 million tons in 2013; about 13% of the national total or, equivalent to half of emissions from European Union. Production for export increases concentration of NMVOCs (including some carcinogenic species) and peak ozone levels by 20–30% and 6–15% respectively, in the coastal areas. It contributes to an estimated 16,889 (3,839–30,663, 95% CI) premature deaths annually combining the effects of NMVOCs and ozone, but could be reduced by nearly 40% by closing the technology gap between China and EU. Export demand also alters the emission ratios between NMVOCs and nitrogen oxides and hence the ozone chemistry in the east and south coast.

Typhoon-boosted biogenic emission aggravates cross-regional ozone pollution in China

“…The YRD region, even further away, is still influenced with O 3 contribution more than 10 ppb. As a secondary pollutant with relatively long lifetime, O 3 could be either directly transported or locally produced by precursors from upwind areas ( 18 , 45 ). Our modeling results indicate that photochemically produced O 3 from PRD emissions is mainly distributed locally, and hardly can the precursors from PRD be transported to YRD.…”

“…Emissions of NO x are dominated by anthropogenic combustion processes, whereas VOCs originate from both human activities and biogenic emissions especially from forest ecosystems ( 5 , 13 – 16 ). Severe O 3 pollution and its deterioration have long been attributed to intensive anthropogenic activities ( 6 , 17 , 18 ). However, despite that strict measures have been widely implemented to cut down anthropogenic emissions in the past decades, increases in ground-level O 3 pollution have been witnessed in many places of the Northern Hemisphere ( 19 , 20 ).…”

Export Expansion May Increase Adult Illness and Injury: A Quasi-Natural Experiment on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization

“…Third, our work contributes to the literature examining trade's effect on human health in the field of environmental science ( 1 – 3 ). For example, Jiang et al ( 1 ) find that export trade caused 12% of PM 2.5 -related deaths in China in 2007, Wang et al ( 2 ) specify that trade caused 208,500 deaths in China in 2007, due to increased PM 2.5 concentrations, and Ou et al ( 3 ) discover that ozone pollution from Chinese exports caused 16,889 deaths in 2013.…”

“…Third, our work contributes to the literature examining trade's effect on human health in the field of environmental science ( 1 – 3 ). For example, Jiang et al ( 1 ) find that export trade caused 12% of PM 2.5 -related deaths in China in 2007, Wang et al ( 2 ) specify that trade caused 208,500 deaths in China in 2007, due to increased PM 2.5 concentrations, and Ou et al ( 3 ) discover that ozone pollution from Chinese exports caused 16,889 deaths in 2013. The abovementioned literature uses atmospheric chemical transport models to simulate changes in air pollutant concentrations stemming from trade and epidemiological models to calculate the deaths related to air pollutants.…”

The Modeling Study about Impacts of Emission Control Policies for Chinese 14th Five-Year Plan on PM2.5 and O3 in Yangtze River Delta, China

“…This is the first time that VOCs have been included in the overall emission reduction targets in the FYP. With the sharp rises in industrial products in China, there has been an increasing trend in domestic non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) emissions [27]. VOCs are precursors to both surface-level ozone and secondary organic aerosols [28].…”