What Is The Impact Of China’s Rapid Growth On Public Health?

I flew into Chicago last Thursday night and was greeted by this gorgeous sight:

It’s not the traditional skyline, but in some ways I find it even more breathtaking.  Beyond its beauty, what struck me most was the incredible planning and work that went into creating this city.  But at what price?

China is facing this exact dilemma, generating record levels of pollution that have engulfed several cities.  This issue was highlighted by several news outlets over the past few weeks, including this great photo essay.  It’s clear that China’s massive growth has had some short term consequences, including apparent environmental impacts.  But when the public is breathing in pollution 25x higher than the safe amount, what are the long term impacts to public health and the economy?

MIT released an interesting study last year examining this question.  The study first laid out common health impacts of this pollution, ranging from hospital admissions, to chronic respiratory issues, to lost productivity.  Applying various scenarios and simulations, the study estimated that China lost $112 billion due to this pollution.  While this is dwarfed by China’s $7 trillion GDP, it’s still a staggering sum that will only be exacerbated as the country continues to grow.  Given the strain the US is currently facing on its own healthcare system, it will be curious how China deals with its issues down the line.

One area it needs to tackle is the disturbing misconceptions and a lack of public information about prevention.  In the photos, you can see people wearing face masks to combat the smog.  This is also a common sight at airports, where I usually laugh because I don’t think a flimsy mask is going to prevent you from getting sick (there’s even some evidence to back me up).  Similarly, the masks in China aren’t going to prevent people from breathing in many of the smaller particulates that can be just as harmful as the ones you can see.  China’s government needs to look beyond just curbing the pollution and think about educating people on how to stay safe or risk an even larger catastrophe.