Air pollution exposure disparities across age groups in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2010 to 2020

Abstract

Air pollution carries different disease burdens across all age groups, with the elderly and children being the most affected. Therefore, it is of practical significance to study air pollution exposure characteristics of different age groups in the context of accelerating aging in China. In this study, we used the number of people and air pollutant concentration data at the township-level scale (the smallest administrative unit in China) to calculate population-weighted PM_2.5 concentration exposure (PM_2.5 PWE) values of different age groups in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, quantified the pollution exposure differences among different groups, and analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in such differences and their driving factors. Although air quality has improved, these improvements have not been equally distributed across all age groups, leading to intensified disparities in air pollution exposure. Specifically, the elderly were exposed to lower PM_2.5 concentrations in 2010 and 2020, and the working age group had the highest annual PM_2.5 PWE in 2010 and the largest reduction in PM_2.5 PWE between 2010 and 2020. The PM_2.5 PWE of the children group was higher in 2020. The exposure disparities among groups increased in 2020 compared to 2010, and the exposure disparities and their variations were related to the administrative area, rural employment, per capita disposable income, NVDI, wind speed, and temperature. This study expands our understanding of air pollution exposure disparities in China and provides a scientific foundation for addressing unequal exposure disparities across different age groups in the BTH region.