Dr. Ying Li Researches Air Quality in China
Dr. Ying Li, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health for the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, is co-author of an article titled “Neglected environmental health impacts of China's supply-side structural reform” to be published in the June 2018 issue of Environment International.
Supply-side structural reform has been the most important ongoing economic reform in China since 2015, but its important environmental health effects have not been properly assessed. The present study addresses that gap by focusing on reduction of overcapacity in the coal, steel, and iron sectors, combined with reduction of emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and fine particulate matter, and projecting resultant effects on air quality and public health across cities and regions in China.
Modeling results indicate that effects on air quality and public health are visible and distributed unevenly across the country. This assessment provides quantitative evidence supporting projections of the transregional distribution of such effects. Such uneven transregional distribution complicates management of air quality and health risks in China.
The study results challenge current approaches that rely solely on cities to improve air quality. To minimize offsetting effects, evaluation of cities' performance in air quality management needs to take into consideration the uneven distribution of costs and benefits of both the reform measures and social, economic, and environmental health benefits.
Lead author of the article is Wei Zhang of the Renmin University of China. Additional authors include individuals from the East China Normal University, the Wageningen University & Research, the State University of New York, and Michigan State University.
Environment International is an international, multidisciplinary journal situated at the interface between the environment and humans. Articles cover the environment and spans sources, pathways, fate and impacts associated with air, soil, water, food, and biota and their related interactions with ecosystems and human health.