Developing and validating intracity spatiotemporal air quality health index in eastern China

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health Sciences
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Existing city-level air quality health index (AQHI) lacks intracity spatial detail.
• This limits accurate assessment of population health impacts from localized air pollution exposure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an intracity spatiotemporal air quality health index (ST-AQHI).
• To refine air pollution health risk assessments by accounting for spatial variations.
• To improve communication of short-term health risks from ambient air pollution.

Main Methods:

• Integrated province-wide death surveillance data with high-resolution air pollution and climate data (2016-2019).
• Employed an individual-level case-crossover design to quantify mortality risks from PM2.5, NO2, O3, and SO2.
• Developed daily gridded ST-AQHI estimates and validated their association with mortality outcomes.

Main Results:

• Analyzed 1,905,209 nonaccidental deaths; identified significant mortality risks associated with PM2.5, NO2, O3, and SO2 exposure.
• ST-AQHI showed a declining trend from 2016-2019, with fewer high-risk days.
• ST-AQHI demonstrated strong, linear associations with nonaccidental, circulatory, and respiratory mortality, validating its predictive performance.

Conclusions:

• The developed ST-AQHI effectively predicts intracity spatiotemporal variations in mortality risks from multiple air pollutants.
• ST-AQHI holds significant practical value for communicating air pollution health risks to the public at community scales.