Special Reports

Special Report 22 describes a study led by a team of investigators from Fudan and Tsinghua Universities, other Chinese research institutions, and HEI scientists Allison Patton and Katherine Walker, as part of HEI’s Global Health Program. The report provides an analysis of emissions from shipping and related activities and their impacts on air quality and health in the Yangtze River Delta and Shanghai.

Special Report 20, Burden of Disease Attributable to Coal-Burning and Other Major Sources of Air Pollution in China, provides the first comprehensive assessment of the current and predicted burdens of disease attributable to coal-burning and other major sources of particulate matter air pollution (PM_2.5) in China at the national and provincial levels. It is the result of the Global Burden of Disease – Major Air Pollution Sources (GDB MAPS) project, an international collaboration of Tsinghua University, the Health Effects Institute, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), and the University of British Columbia. The analyses show that coal combustion is the single largest source of air pollution-related health impact, contributing to some 366,000 premature deaths in China in 2013, with industry and household combustion as major contributors as well. The report also indicates that health burdens could grow substantially by 2030 if no further action is taken. 燃煤和其他主要大气污染源所致的中国疾病负担 (Special Report 20 in Chinese)

Special Report 19 contains the intensive review and analysis of the newest studies of mine and truck workers exposed to older diesel engine exhaust conducted by an Expert Panel appointed by the HEI Board of Directors. In its report, HEI's Diesel Epidemiology Panel concluded that the studies are well prepared and are useful for applying the data to calculate the cancer risk due to exposure to diesel exhaust.

A Special Report of the Institute's Panel on the Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution. This report is the most comprehensive and systematic review to date of the scientific literature on emissions, exposure, and health effects from traffic-related air pollution. It includes conclusions about the populations exposed around major roads, the associations between exposure to air pollution from traffic and human health, and important remaining data gaps. Compared with the initial pre-print version released in May 2009, this final version has undergone data verification and editorial changes; however, the overall conclusions did not change.