Beijing (dpa) - A policy of providing free, coal-fired winter
heating to residents of northern China produced air pollution that
cut about 5.5 years from average life expectancy, according to a
study published Tuesday.
Total suspended particles north of the Huai River averaged 55 per
cent higher than in southern areas, the Chinese, US and Israeli
researchers reported in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of
Sciences.
Some 500 million people live north of the Huai, which the
government used as a dividing line for its winter heating policy from
1950-1980.
The scientists analysed air pollution and deaths in 90 Chinese
cities from 1981 to 2000.
"Life expectancies are about 5.5 years lower in the north owing to
an increased incidence of cardiorespiratory mortality," they said.
Each 100 micrograms of suspended particles per cubic metre of air
appeared to lower life expectancy at birth by about three years, the
scientists found.
"The analysis suggests that the Huai river policy, which had the
laudable goal of providing indoor heat, had disastrous consequences
for health, presumably due to the failure to require the installation
of sufficient pollution abatement equipment," they said.
Suspended particles for 2003-08 were 26 per cent higher in
northern China, "suggesting that residents of the north continue to
have shortened lifespans."
"These results may help explain why China's explosive economic
growth has led to relatively anaemic growth in life expectancy," the
report said.
The prevailing concentrations of suspended particles during the
study period were "not atypical for many cities in developing
countries today, such as India and China," it said.
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