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. 2013 May 2;8(5):e63486.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063486. Print 2013.

Population exposure to PM2.5 in the urban area of Beijing

An Zhang  1 , Qingwen Qi, Lili Jiang, Fang Zhou, Jinfeng Wang
Affiliations

Population exposure to PM2.5 in the urban area of Beijing

An Zhang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The air quality in Beijing, especially its PM2.5 level, has become of increasing public concern because of its importance and sensitivity related to health risks. A set of monitored PM2.5 data from 31 stations, released for the first time by the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, covering 37 days during autumn 2012, was processed using spatial interpolation and overlay analysis. Following analyses of these data, a distribution map of cumulative exceedance days of PM2.5 and a temporal variation map of PM2.5 for Beijing have been drawn. Computational and analytical results show periodic and directional trends of PM2.5 spreading and congregating in space, which reveals the regulation of PM2.5 overexposure on a discontinuous medium-term scale. With regard to the cumulative effect of PM2.5 on the human body, the harm from lower intensity overexposure in the medium term, and higher overexposure in the short term, are both obvious. Therefore, data of population distribution were integrated into the aforementioned PM2.5 spatial spectrum map. A spatial statistical analysis revealed the patterns of PM2.5 gross exposure and exposure probability of residents in the Beijing urban area. The methods and conclusions of this research reveal relationships between long-term overexposure to PM2.5 and people living in high-exposure areas of Beijing, during the autumn of 2012.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Locations of monitoring stations for PM2.5 in Beijing from BJEPB.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Census geographic unit population densities of Beijing urban area.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Sample of spatial interpolation for PM2.5 concentrations (October 9, 2012).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Thirty-seven daily Air Quality Index change in Beijing urban area.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Population exposures estimation method.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Number of cumulative exceedance days.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Population exposures (left) and percentages (right) exceeding AQI standard.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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