Pollution in China is one aspect of the broader topic of

environmental issues in China Environmental issues in China had risen in tandem with the country's rapid industrialisation, as well as lax environmental oversight especially during the early 2000s. China was ranked 120th out of the 180 countries on the 2020 Environmental ...

. Various forms of

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

have increased as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

has

industrialised Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

, which has caused widespread environmental health problems.

Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his popular science books '' The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Priz ...

, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.

Pollution statistics

The immense growth of the People's Republic of China since the 1980s has resulted in increased

soil pollution Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

. The State Environmental Protection Administration believes it to be a threat to the environment, food safety and sustainable agriculture. 38,610 square miles (100,000 km²) of China's cultivated land have been polluted, with contaminated water being used to irrigate further 31.5 million miles (21,670 km².), and another 2 million miles (1,300 km²) have been covered or destroyed by solid waste. The affected area accounts of one-tenth of China's cultivatable land. An estimated 6 million tonnes of food grain are contaminated by heavy metals every year, causing direct losses of 29 billion yuan (US$2.57 billion). Heavy metals (including mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, chromium, and zinc) in the contaminated soil have adverse health effects on human

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run ...

. Ingestion, contact through skin, diet through the soil-food chain, respiratory intake, and oral intake can deliver the toxic substances to human beings.

Waste

As China's waste production increases, insufficient efforts to develop capable recycling systems have been attributed to a lack of environmental awareness. In 2012, the waste generation in China was 300 million tons (229.4 kg/cap/yr). A ban came into effect on 15 June 2008 that prohibited all supermarkets, department stores and shops throughout China from giving out free plastic bags, therefore encouraging people to use cloth bags. Stores must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags and are banned from adding that price onto the price of products. The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bagsthose less than 0.025 millimeters (0.00098 in) thickare also banned. The State Council called for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets." This ban, however, does not affect the widespread use of paper shopping bags at clothing stores or the use of plastic bags at restaurants for takeout food. A survey by the International Food Packaging Association found that in the year after the ban was implemented, 10 percent fewer plastic bags found their way into the garbage.

"White pollution"

The term "white pollution" (, less often "white garbage" ) appears to be local to China and later to South Asia, enjoying far less use and recognition outside of the region. It refers to the color of white plastic shopping bags, styrofoam containers, and other light-colored materials that began turning up in visible volume in agricultural fields, the landscape, and waterways in the mid- to late 1990's. The first references to the term "white pollution" appear in official language at least as early as 1999, when the first bans were imposed by the State Council.

Electronic waste

In 2011, China produced 2.3 million tons of electronic waste. The annual amount is expected to increase as the Chinese economy grows. In addition to domestic waste production, large amounts of electronic waste are imported from overseas. Legislation banning importation of electronic waste and requiring proper disposal of domestic waste has recently been introduced, but has been criticized as insufficient and susceptible to fraud. There have been local successes, such as in the city of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

where 38,000 tons of electronic waste were disposed of properly in 2010, but much electronic waste is still improperly handled.

Industrial pollution

In 1997, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

issued a report targeting China's policy towards industrial pollution. The report stated that "hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and incidents of serious respiratory illness have been caused by exposure to industrial air pollution.Since the Industrial Revolution, air pollution has been a major source of worry for human growth. Using an original survey in China, we give the first causal estimates of pollution's impact on political opinions. Seriously contaminated by industrial discharges, many of China's waterways are largely unfit for direct human use." However, the report did acknowledge that environmental regulations and industrial reforms have had some effect. It was determined that continued environmental reforms were likely to have a large effect on reducing industrial pollution. In a 2007 article about China's pollution problem, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

stated that "Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party." The article's main points included: # According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, industrial pollution has made cancer China's leading cause of death. # Every year, ambient air pollution alone killed hundreds of thousands of citizens. # 500 million people in China are without safe and clean drinking water. # Only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic gray shroud". Before and during the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, Beijing was "frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics." # Lead poisoning or other types of local pollution continue to kill many children. # A large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water. # The pollution has spread internationally: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo; and according to the Journal of Geophysical Research, the pollution even reaches Los Angeles in the US. # The Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning in 2003 produced an unpublished internal report which estimated that 300,000 people die each year from ambient

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

, mostly of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

. # Chinese environmental experts in 2005 issued another report, estimating that annual premature deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution were likely to reach 380,000 in 2010 and 550,000 in 2020. # A 2007

report conducted with China's national environmental agency found that " ..outdoor air pollution was already causing 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths a year. Indoor pollution contributed to the deaths of an additional 300,000 people, while 60,000 died from

diarrhoea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

, bladder and stomach cancer and other diseases that can be caused by water-borne pollution." World Bank officials said "China’s environmental agency insisted that the health statistics be removed from the published version of the report, citing the possible impact on 'social stability'". A draft of a 2007 combined World Bank and SEPA report stated that up to 760,000 people died prematurely each year in China because of air and water pollution. High levels of air pollution in China's cities caused to 350,000–400,000 premature deaths. Another 300,000 died because of indoor air of poor quality. There were 60,000 premature deaths each year because of water of poor quality. Chinese officials asked that some of the results should not be published in order to avoid social unrest. China has made some improvements in environmental protection during recent years. According to the World Bank, 'China is one of a few countries in the world that have been rapidly increasing their forest cover. It is managing to reduce air and

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

. Vennemo ''et al.'', in a 2009 literature review in '' Review of Environmental Economics and Policy'', noted the wide discrepancy between the reassuring view in some Chinese official publications and the exclusively negative view in some Western sources. The review stated that "although China is starting from a point of grave pollution, it is setting priorities and making progress that resemble what occurred in industrialized countries during their earlier stages of development." Environmental trends were described as uneven. A quality of surface water in the south of China was improving and particle emissions were stable. But NO₂ emissions were increasing rapidly and SO₂ emissions had been increasing before decreasing in 2007, the last year for which data was available. Conventional approaches to air quality monitoring are based on networks of static and sparse measurement stations. However, there are drivers behind current rises in the use of low-cost sensors for air pollution management in cities. The immense urban growth of Chinese cities substantially increases the need for consumer goods, vehicles and energy. This in turn increases the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in smog. Exposure to Smog poses a threat to the health of Chinese citizens. A study from 2012 shows fine particles in the air, which cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are one of the key pollutants that are accounted for a large fraction of damage on the health of Chinese citizens.

Water pollution

The

water resources of China The water resources of China are affected by both severe water shortages and severe growing population and rapid economic development as well as lax environmental oversight have increased in a large scale the water demand and pollution. China h ...

are affected by both severe water shortages and severe water pollution. An increasing population and rapid economic growth, as well as lax environmental oversight, have increased water demand and pollution. According to an investigation in 1980, the entire country has 440 billion cubic meters of the total water consumption. Consumption by agriculture, forestry, husbandry, and country residents was about 88 per cent of the total consumption. However, an investigation shows that 19 per cent of water in main rivers has been polluted as well as a total length of 95,000 kilometers. In addition, a survey for 878 rivers in the early 1980s shows that 80 per cent of them were polluted to some extent, and fish became extinct in more than 5 per cent of total river length throughout the country. Furthermore, there are over 20 waterways unsuitable for agricultural irrigation due to water pollution. In response, China has taken measures such as rapidly building out the water infrastructure and increased regulation as well as exploring a number of further technological solutions.

Air pollution

Air pollution is a major public health issue in China. Over the past three decades, the rapid development of China has resulted in excessive emissions of greenhouse gases. Among the 337 cities, more than 40 percent of the major air pollutant concentrations exceeded Chinese standards. In the last few years, however, China has made significant progress in reducing air pollution. In 2016, only 84 out of 338 prefecture-level (administrative division of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

(PRC), ranking below a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

and above a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

) or higher cities attained the national standard for air quality. However, by 2018, those 338 cities enjoyed good air quality on 79% of days. The amount of harmful particulates in the air in China fell 40% from 2013 to 2020. Average PM2.5 concentrations fell by 33% from 2013 to 2017 in 74 cities. The overall pollution in China fell further 10% between 2017 and 2018. Another study shows that China reduced PM2.5 by 47% between 2005 and 2015. In August 2019, Beijing experienced the lowest PM2.5 on record—a low of 23 micrograms per cubic meter. Beijing is on track to drop out of the Top 200 most polluted cities by the end of 2019. The reasons are many fold: (1) Millions of homes and businesses are switching from coal to natural gas and (2) Afforestation measures. China is also the world's largest producer of electric cars, but lags a number of European countries and the U.S. regarding the number of electric cars per capita. Air pollution levels dropped in early 2020 due to quarantines addressing the coronavirus pandemic. By early 2021, however, the levels had risen again. The Chinese government realized that the pollution had an effect on its regime's satisfaction so it increased funding to reduce dissatisfaction. An example of this is that in 2013, China's Academy for Environmental Planning pledged $277 billion to combat urban air pollution. In the first batch of 74 cities that implemented the 2012 Environmental Air Quality Standards, the average concentration of PM2.5 and sulfur dioxide dropped by 42 percent and 68 percent, respectively, between 2013 and 2018.

Zhong Nanshan Zhong Nanshan (born 20 October 1936) is a Chinese pulmonologist. He was president of the Chinese Medical Association from 2005 to 2009 and is currently the editor-in-chief of the '' Journal of Thoracic Disease''. He is a recipient of Medal o ...

, the president of the

China Medical Association In China, the practice of medicine is a mixture of government, charitable, and private institutions, while many people rely on traditional medicine. Until reforms in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, physicians were quasi-govern ...

, warned in 2012 that air pollution could become China's biggest health threat. Measurements by Beijing municipal government in January 2013 showed that highest recorded level of PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in size), was at nearly 1,000 μg per cubic meter. PM_2.5, consisting of K⁺, Ca²⁺, NO₃⁻, and SO₄^2-, had the most fearsome impact on people's health in Beijing throughout the year, especially in cold seasons. Traces of smog from mainland China has been observed to reach as far as California.

Sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic a ...

emission peaked at 2006, after which it began to decline by 10.4% in 2008 compared to 2006. This was accompanied by improvements on related phenomenons such as lower frequency of

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but ac ...

fall. The adoption by power plants of

flue-gas desulfurization Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulfur dioxide () from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulfur oxide emitting processes such as waste incineration. Methods ...

technology was likely the main reason for reduced SO₂ emissions. Large-scale use of

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) ( systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section ...

in make home building products in construction and furniture also contributes to

indoor air pollution Indoor air quality (IAQ) is the air quality within and around buildings and structures. IAQ is known to affect the health, comfort, and well-being of building occupants. Poor indoor air quality has been linked to sick building syndrome, reduce ...

Particulates

Particulates are formed from both primary and secondary pathways. Primary sources such as coal combustion, biomass combustion and traffic directly emit

particulate matter Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The te ...

(PM). The emissions from

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s are considerably higher than in other countries, as most Chinese facilities do not employ any

flue gas Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produc ...

treatment. High secondary aerosol (particulates formed through atmospheric oxidation and reactions of gaseous organic compounds) contribution to particulate pollution in China is found. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, such fine particles can cause asthma, bronchitis, and acute and chronic respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and painful breathing, and may also lead to premature death. According to the World Bank, the Chinese cities with the highest levels of

in 2004 of those studied were

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...

, and

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...

. In 2012 stricter air pollution monitoring of ozone and PM2.5 were ordered to be gradually implemented from large cities and key areas to all prefecture-level cities, and from 2015 all prefecture-level or higher cities were included. State media acknowledged the role of environmental campaigners in causing this change. On one micro-blog service, more than a million mostly positive comments were posted in less than 24 hours although some wondered if the standards would be effectively enforced. The US embassy in Beijing regularly posts automated air quality measurements at @beijingair on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. On 18 November 2010, the feed described the PM2.5 AQI (Air Quality Index) as "crazy bad" after registering a reading in excess of 500 for the first time. This description was later changed to "beyond index", a level which recurred in February, October, and December 2011. In June 2012, following strongly divergent disclosures of particulate levels between the Observatory and the US Embassy, Chinese authorities asked foreign consulates to stop publishing "inaccurate and unlawful" data."Foreign embassies' air data issuing inaccurate, unlawful: official"
Xinhua, 5 June 2012 Officials said it was "not scientific to evaluate the air quality of an area with results gathered from just only one point inside that area", and asserted that official daily average PM2.5 figures for Beijing and Shanghai were "almost the same with the results published by foreign embassies and consulates". By January 2013 the pollution had worsened with official Beijing data showing an average AQI over 300 and readings of up to 700 at individual recording stations while the US Embassy recorded over 755 on 1 January and 800 by 12 January 2013. On 21 October 2013, record smog closed the Harbin Airport along with all schools in the area. Daily

particulate Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The te ...

levels of more than 50 times the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

recommended daily level were reported in parts of the municipality. In 2016, Beijing's yearly-average PM2.5 was 73 μg/m³, 9.9% improvement compared to 2015. In total, 39 severely polluted days were recorded, 5 fewer compared to 2015. 2016_Air_pollution_in_Beijing

Government's response to the air pollution

In an attempt to reduce air pollution, the Chinese government has made the decision to enforce stricter regulations. After record-high air pollution in northern China in 2012 and 2013, the State Council issued an Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in September 2013. This plan aims to reduce PM2.5 by over 10% from 2012 to 2017. The most prominent government response has been in Beijing, aiming to reduce PM2.5 by 25% from 2012 to 2017. As the capital of China, it is suffering from high levels of air pollution. According to Reuters, in September 2013, the Chinese government published the plan to tackle air pollution problem on its official website. The main goal of the plan is to reduce coal consumption by closing polluting mills, factories, and smelters, and switching to other eco-friendly energy sources. These policies have been taking effect, and in 2015, the average PM2.5 in 74 key cities in monitoring system is 55 μg/m³, showing a 23.6% decrease as of 2013. Despite the reduction in coal consumption and polluting industries, China still maintained a stable economic growth rate from 7.7% in 2013 to 6.9% in 2015. On 20 August 2015, ahead of the 70th-anniversary celebrations of the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Beijing government shut down industrial facilities and reduced car emissions in order to achieve a "Parade Blue" sky for the occasion. This action resulted in PM2.5 concentration lower than the 35 μg/m³ national air quality standard, according to data from Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Monitoring Centre (BMEMC). The restrictions resulted in an average Beijing PM2.5 concentration of 19.5 μg/m³, the lowest that had ever been on record in the capital. China's strategy has been mainly focusing on the development of other energy sources such as nuclear, hydro and

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...

. The latest plan entails closing the outdated capacity of the industrial sectors like iron, steel, aluminum and cement and increasing nuclear capacity and other non-fossil fuel energy. It also includes an intention to stop approving new thermal power plants and to cut coal consumption in industrial areas. According to research, substituting all coal consumption for residential and commercial use to natural gas requires additional 88 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which is 60% of China's total consumption in 2012, and the net cost would be 32–52 billion dollars. Substituting the share of coal-fired power plant with renewable and nuclear energy also requires 700GW additional capacity, which cost 184 billion dollars. So the net cost would be 140–160 billion dollars considering value of saved coal. Since all the above policies have been already partially implemented by national and city governments, they should lead to substantial improvements in urban air quality.

Four-color alert system

Beijing launched four-color alert system in 2013. It is based on the

air quality index An air quality index (AQI) is used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast to become. AQI information is obtained by averaging readings from an air quality sensor, whi ...

(AQI), which indicates how clean or polluted the air is. The Beijing government revised their four-color alert system at the start of 2016, increasing the levels of pollution required to trigger orange and red alerts. The change was introduced to standardize the alert levels across four cities including Tianjin and four cities in Hebei, and perhaps in direct response to the red alerts issues the previous December.

Light pollution

With active economic growth and a huge number of citizens, China is considered as the largest developing country in the world. Due to urbanization,

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day or night. Light po ...

generally is an environmental factor that significantly influences the quality and health of wildlife. According to Pengpeng Han et al., "In the 1990s, the increasing trend in light pollution regions mostly occurred in larger urban cities, which are mainly located in eastern and coastal areas, whereas the decreasing trend areas were chiefly industrial and mining cities rich in mineral resources, in addition to the central parts of large cities". In the 2000s, nearly all urban cities were dominated by an uprising trend in light pollution.

Common pollutants

Lead

Lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertil ...

was described in a 2001 paper as one of the most common pediatric health problems in China. A 2006 review of existing data suggested that one-third of Chinese children suffer from elevated serum lead levels. Pollution from metal smelters and a fast-growing battery industry has been responsible for most cases of, particularly high lead levels. In 2011, there were riots in the Zhejiang Haijiu Battery Factory from angry parents whose children received permanent neurological damage from lead poisoning. The central government has acknowledged the problem and has taken measures such as suspending battery factory production, but some see the response as inadequate and some local authorities have tried to silence criticisms. A literature review of academic studies on Chinese children's blood lead levels found that the lead levels declined when comparing the studies published during 1995–2003 and 2004–2007 periods. Lead levels also showed a declining trend after China banned lead in gasoline in 2000. Lead levels were still higher than those in developed nations. Industrial areas had higher levels than suburban areas, which had higher levels than urban areas. Controlling and preventing lead poisoning was described as a long-term mission.

Persistent organic pollutants

China is a signatory nation of the

Stockholm Convention Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty, signed on 22 May 2001 in Stockholm and effective from 17 May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic ...

, a treaty to control and phase out major persistent organic pollutants (POP). A plan of action for 2010 includes objectives such as eliminating the production, import and use of the pesticides covered under the convention, as well as an accounting system for PCB containing equipment. For 2015, China plans to establish an inventory of POP-contaminated sites and remediation plans. Since May 2009, this treaty also covers polybrominated diphenyl ethers and

perfluorooctanesulfonic acid Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (conjugate base perfluorooctanesulfonate) is a chemical compound having an eight-carbon fluorocarbon chain and a sulfonic acid functional group and thus a perfluorosulfonic acid. It is an anthropogenic (man-ma ...

. Perfluorinated compounds are associated with altered thyroid function and decreased sperm count in humans. China faces a big challenge in controlling and eliminating POPs, since they often are cheaper than their alternatives, or are unintentionally produced and then released into the environment to save on treatment costs.

Yellow dust

The Yellow dust or Asian dust is a seasonal dust cloud which affects Northeast Asia during late winter and springtime. The dust originates in the deserts of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

, northern China and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over Northern China into Korea and Japan.

Desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused ...

has intensified in China. 1,740,000 square kilometres of land is classified as "dry", and desertification disrupts the lives of 400 million people and causes direct economic losses of 54 billion yuan ($7 billion) a year, SFA figures show. Sulfur (an

component), soot, ash, carbon monoxide, and other toxic pollutants including heavy metals (such as mercury,

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Li ...

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hard ...

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

, lead,

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

, copper) and other

carcinogens A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive sub ...

, often accompany the dust storms, as well as viruses, bacteria, fungi,

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and la ...

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and preventio ...

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

, plastic ingredients, combustion products and

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

mimicking

phthalates Phthalates (, ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften ...

Coal

The increasing number of air pollutants can cause incidences of low visibility for days and acid rain. According to the article "Air Pollution in Mega Cities in China",Chan, C. K., & Yao, X. (1 January 2008). Air pollution in megacities in China. Atmospheric Environment, 42, 1, 1–42. "Coal accounts for 70% of the total energy consumption, and emissions from coal combustion are the major anthropogenic contributors to air pollution in China." The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also highlights the Huai River Policy established during China's central planning period between 1950 and 1980. The policy provided homes and offices with free coal for winter heating but was limited solely to the Northern region due to budget limitations. The policy led to a dramatic increase in coal consumption and production. Coal production alongside rapid economic growth has increased the emission of harmful pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and small particle matter known as PM2.5 and PM10. Long-term exposure to pollutants can cause health risks such as respiratory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Coal is a huge issue because of the SO2 emissions from coal factories. According to the article, "SO2 exceeded the Chinese Grade-II standards in 22% of the country’s cities and caused acid rain problems in 38% of the cities."

Other pollutants

In 2010, 49 employees at Wintek were poisoned by n-

hexane Hexane () is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and has the molecular formula C6H14. It is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with boiling points approximately . It is widely used as a cheap, relative ...

in the manufacturing of touchscreens for

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

products. In 2013, it was revealed that portions of the country's rice supply were tainted with the toxic metal

Impact of pollution

A 2006 Chinese

green gross domestic product The green gross domestic product (green GDP or GGDP) is an index of economic growth with the environmental consequences of that growth factored into a country's conventional GDP. Green GDP monetizes the loss of biodiversity, and accounts for costs ...

estimate stated that pollution in 2004 cost 3.05% of the nation's economy. A 2007 World Bank and SEPA report estimated the cost of water and air pollution in 2003 to 2.68% or 5.78% of GDP depending on if using a Chinese or a Western method of calculation. A 2009 review stated a range of 2.2–10% of GDP. A 2012 study stated that pollution had little effect on economic growth which in China's case was largely dependent on

physical capital Physical capital represents in economics one of the three primary factors of production. Physical capital is the apparatus used to produce a good and services. Physical capital represents the tangible man-made goods that help and support the pro ...

expansion and increased energy consumption due to the dependency on manufacturing and heavy industries. China was predicted to continue to grow using energy-inefficient and polluting industries. While growth may continue, the rewards of this growth may be opposed by the harm from the pollution unless environmental protection is increased. A 2013 study published in the

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of S ...

found that severe pollution during the 1990s cut five and a half (5.5) years from the average life expectancy of people living in northern China, where toxic air has led to increased rates of stroke, heart disease and cancer. A 2015 study from the non-profit organization Berkeley Earth estimated that 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of polluted air.

Cross-border pollution

Criticisms of government environmental policies

Critics point to the government's lack of willingness to protect the environment as a common problem with China's environmental policies. Even in the case of the latest plan, experts are skeptical about its actual influence because of the existence of loopholes. This is because economic growth is still the primary issue for the government, and overrides environmental protection. However, if the measures to cut coal usage were applied strictly, it would also mean the dismantling of the local economy that is highly reliant on heavy industry. The Financial Times interviewed a worker who stated, "if this steel mill didn’t exist, we wouldn’t even have anywhere to go to eat. Everything revolves around this steel factory – our children work here." Scientists have yet to agree on the impact of China's air pollution on neighboring countries. Some politicians in South Korea claim that more than half of Korea's air pollution is caused by fine dust generated in China, but China disagrees.

Pollution ratings

As of 2019: *The top five cities with the best air quality:

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the ...

Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of ...

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

Huangshan Huangshan (),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui Province in eastern China. It was originally called “Yishan”, and it was renamed because of a legend that Emperor Xua ...

*The 10 cities with the worst

air quality Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It ...

, Xingtai,

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...

Linfen Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...

Tangshan Tangshan () is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in the central area of the Boha ...

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

Zibo Zibo (, ) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou to the ...

Jiaozuo Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to th ...

Jincheng Jincheng is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi province, China, bordering Henan province to the south and southeast. It is an industrial city in an area where coal mining is an important industry. The entire city has a populat ...

According to the National Environmental Analysis released by

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

and The Asian Development Bank in January 2013, seven of the ten most air polluted cities in the world are in China, including

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, Urumqi,

Lanzhou Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

and