Constructing the Air Quality Health Index of Taiyuan City Based on Non-accidental Mortality Rates Among the Population

Objective Construct an Air Quality Health Index(AQHI)for Taiyuan based on the impact of air pollution on non-accidental mortality,and compare it with the Air Quality Index(AQI)to evaluate their respective abilities to predict health risks.Methods Collect data on air pollutant concentrations,daily mortality,and meteorological factors in Taiyuan from 2017 to 2021.Use a Generalized Additive Model(GAM)to analyze the exposure-response relationships between air pollutants,meteorological factors,and non-accidental mortality risk.Construct the Air Quality Health Index(AQHI)using both standard methods and Principal Component Analysis(PCA).Compare the AQHI with the Air Quality Index(AQI)to evaluate their respective abilities to predict health risks.Results At the point of the strongest lag effect,for every 10 μg/m³ increase in the concentrations of PM2.5,SO2,NO2,and O3,non-accidental mortality in the population increases by 0.56%(95%CI:0.26%,0.87%),1.43%(95%CI:0.97%,1.91%),0.91%(95%CI:0.27%,1.54%),and 0.34%(95%CI:0.06%,0.63%),respectively.The strongest lag effects of the first and second principal components(PC1 and PC2)of air pollutants on non-accidental mortality are 0.95%(95%CI:0.51%,1.38%)and 0.48%(95%CI:0.24%,0.72%),respectively.Compared with AQI,the predictive ability of AQHI constructed using both methods is improved,with the AQHI based on the standard method better reflecting the impact of air pollutants on non-accidental mortality in local residents.Conclusion The atmospheric pollutants PM2.5,SO2,NO2,and O3 in Taiyuan affect the risk of non-accidental mortality in the population,with SO2 showing the strongest lag effect on non-accidental mortality across different population groups.Compared to the AQHI constructed using principal component analysis,the AQHI built using the standard method is better at predicting the impact of air pollution on the risk of non-accidental mortality.