US EPA

5101205 

Journal Article 

Trans-provincial health impacts of atmospheric mercury emissions in China 

Chen, L; Liang, S; Liu, M; Yi, Y; Mi, Z; Zhang, Y; Li, Y; Qi, J; Meng, J; Tang, X; Zhang, H; Tong, Y; Zhang, W; Wang, X; Shu, J; Yang, Z 

2019 

1 

Nature Communications
EISSN: 2041-1723 

Nature Publishing Group 

10 

1 

1484 

English 

30940811 

10.1038/s41467-019-09080-6 

WOS:000462985600002 

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85063727639&doi=10.1038%2fs41467-019-09080-6&partnerID=40&md5=1c040ac0cf82f2b7d7257db7aa8b8627
Exit
 

Mercury (Hg) exposure poses substantial risks to human health. Investigating a longer chain from economic activities to human health can reveal the sources and critical processes of Hg-related health risks. Thus, we develop a more comprehensive assessment method which is applied to mainland China-the largest global Hg emitter. We present a map of Hg-related health risks in China and estimate that 0.14 points of per-foetus intelligence quotient (IQ) decrements and 7,360 deaths from fatal heart attacks are related to the intake of methylmercury in 2010. This study, for the first time, reveals the significant impacts of interprovincial trade on Hg-related health risks across the whole country. For instance, interprovincial trade induced by final consumption prevents 0.39 × 10-2 points for per-foetus IQ decrements and 194 deaths from fatal heart attacks. These findings highlight the importance of policy decisions in different stages of economic supply chains to reduce Hg-related health risks.