Environmental Justice Assessment of Fine Particles, Ozone, and Mercury over the Pearl River Delta Region, China

Wang Chang, Yun Zhu (), Che-Jen Lin, Saravanan Arunachalam, Shuxiao Wang, Jia Xing, Tingting Fang, Shicheng Long, Jinying Li and Geng Chen
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Wang Chang: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Yun Zhu: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Che-Jen Lin: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA
Saravanan Arunachalam: Institute for the Environment, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
Shuxiao Wang: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jia Xing: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Tingting Fang: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Shicheng Long: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Jinying Li: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Pollution Control, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China
Geng Chen: Guangdong Environmental Monitoring Center, Guangzhou 510308, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Assessment of environmental justice (EJ, a concept related to the distributional fairness of environmental risks) is a crucial component in environmental risk management. However, the risks associated with air pollutants and toxins have rarely been evaluated jointly. Therefore, using an approach integrating modeling, data fusion, and health benefits analysis, we performed an EJ assessment on the mortalities caused by fine particle (PM 2.5 ) and ozone (O 3 ) concentrations and mercury (Hg) deposition over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. The concentration index (CI) was used to measure EJ in low-income distributions and age structures, and a larger value implied a greater EJ issue. The results revealed that the CIs of PM 2.5 , O 3 , and Hg were 0.35, 0.32, and 0.16, respectively, based on the percentage of the low-income population, and 0.39, 0.36, and 0.23, respectively, based on the elderly and children, indicating that environmental injustice was more prominent for PM 2.5 and more reflected in the elderly and children. The center (e.g., Guangzhou) and some marginal areas (e.g., northeast of Jiangmen) in the PRD were overburdened areas with PM 2.5 , O 3 , and Hg pollution due to their intensive source emissions. Moreover, cumulative environmental risk (CER) corrected by population vulnerability exhibited significant differences among the cities; for example, cumulative environmental risk scores (CERSs) in Jiangmen, Huizhou, and Zhaoqing were 14.18 to 32.98 times higher than that in Shenzhen. Hence, the implementation of multipollutant control policies for local PM 2.5 , O 3 , and Hg in overburdened areas is recommended to further promote EJ in the PRD.

Keywords: environmental justice; environmental risk; fine particles; ozone; mercury deposition; environmental vulnerable group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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