There have been few assessments of the health benefits to children of policies aimed at curbing fossil fuel-related air pollution. This has resulted in a lack of awareness regarding their positive impact on the health of this vulnerable population. We estimated the pediatric health benefits of policies targeting coal burning in one of Europe’s most polluted cities, Kraków, Poland. We combined available data on child health outcomes, related concentration-response functions, childhood population counts, and concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ based on city-wide air monitoring in Kraków. Two exposure reduction scenarios were examined. First, we used the observed decrease in air pollutant concentrations between 2010 and 2019. Second, we hypothesized a reduction to the annual World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline values issued in 2005. Between 2010 and 2019, the mean annual air pollution levels in Kraków decreased for both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀. Annual average PM_2.5 concentrations declined by 39.1%, reaching 23.3 μg m⁻³; PM₁₀ dropped by 39.2% to 34.6 μg m⁻³. These reductions in air pollution can be linked to numerous actions undertaken at local and national levels. We estimate that the forgone benefits in 2010 from not having achieved the PM levels observed in 2019 (on an annual basis) included: 505 (35.7%) fewer incident cases of asthma in the 1–14 age group, 81 fewer preterm births (16.8% decrease), 52 fewer cases of low birth weight (12.3% decrease), and 59 avoided asthma hospitalizations in 0–18 year olds. Compliance with the 2005 WHO PM_2.5 guidelines in 2010 would have avoided 780 incident asthma cases in the 1–14 age group (54.5% decrease), 138 preterm births (28.3% decrease), and 90 cases of low birth weight (21.2% reduction) and 219 (54.2%) fewer asthma hospitalizations in 0–18 year olds. Large health benefits were also estimated for PM₁₀ in both scenarios. This study estimated substantial health benefits for children in Kraków, which were largely attributable to clean air policies that restrict the use of coal and other solid fuels. Kraków provides a model for other cities in Europe and beyond that are affected by coal pollution and have high rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and respiratory illness.

中文翻译：

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波兰克拉科夫减少环境颗粒物对儿科人群的健康有益

很少有人评估旨在遏制与化石燃料相关的空气污染的政策对儿童健康的益处。这导致人们对其对弱势群体健康的积极影响缺乏认识。我们估计了欧洲污染最严重的城市之一——波兰克拉科夫的燃煤政策对儿科健康的益处。我们根据克拉科夫全市空气监测，综合了有关儿童健康结果、相关浓度反应函数、儿童人口数量以及 PM _2.5和 PM ₁₀浓度的现有数据。研究了两种减少暴露的情景。首先，我们使用了 2010 年至 2019 年间观察到的空气污染物浓度下降情况。其次，我们假设世界卫生组织 (WHO) 2005 年发布的年度空气质量指导值有所下降。2010 年至 2019 年间，年平均空气污染水平克拉科夫的 PM _2.5和 PM ₁₀均有所下降。 PM _2.5年均浓度下降39.1%，达到23.3μgm ^-3 ; PM ₁₀下降 39.2% 至 34.6μgm ^-3。空气污染的减少可能与地方和国家层面采取的众多行动有关。我们估计，2010 年因未达​​到 2019 年观察到的 PM 水平（按年计算）而放弃的好处包括：1-14 岁年龄组哮喘病例减少 505 例（35.7%），早产儿减少 81 例（16.8%）。 % 减少），低出生体重病例减少 52 例（减少 12.3%），59 例 0-18 岁儿童避免因哮喘住院。如果 2010 年遵守 2005 年 WHO PM _2.5指南，则可避免 1-14 岁年龄段的 780 例哮喘病例（减少 54.5%）、138 例早产（减少 28.3%）和 90 例低出生体重病例（减少 21.2%）。 ），0-18 岁儿童因哮喘住院的人数减少了 219 人（54.2%）。据估计，在这两种情况下，PM ₁₀都会带来巨大的健康益处。这项研究估计克拉科夫儿童的健康受益匪浅，这在很大程度上要归功于限制煤炭和其他固体燃料使用的清洁空气政策。克拉科夫为欧洲及其他地区受煤炭污染影响、早产、低出生体重和呼吸道疾病发生率较高的其他城市提供了榜样。