Ambient air pollution and health effects in Shanghai: Trend, challenges, and opportunities

Shanghai has been rapidly transforming from a heavily polluted industrial city to a rapidly rising global city over the past 40 years. During this period, Shanghai has significantly reduced industrial pollution and lowered its energy and emission intensity. As a result, both the total emissions and concentration of criteria air pollutants have been overall decreasing since the mid-1990s. However, total energy consumption continues to increase rapidly to satisfy the demand of fast urbanization and population economic growth. The primary source of air pollution has shifted gradually from conventional coal combustion to a mixture of coal combustion and motor vehicle emissions, and particulate matter (PM) has become the primary air pollutant in the region. Outdoor air pollution is currently the most challenging environmental problem in Shanghai. Moreover, past studies have found significant association between the short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and mortality and morbidity in Shanghai, and the long-term effects are uncertain owing mainly to the lack of data, particularly health data. Future research should continue to untangle the complex relationships between urbanization, demographic and behavioral changes, socioeconomic development, air pollution, climate change, and population health.