Post Date: 7 April 2017

Developing an Air Quality Health Impact Assessment (AQHIA) Tool

Abstract

Air quality is important because of its impact on our environment, on our society, and vitally, on our health. Pollutants in the air we breathe can lead to a variety of health outcomes, the most severe including heart and lung diseases, stroke, and even death. How can the impact of air pollution on public health be measured? Due to the complexity of the issue, this impact is not straightforward to quantify or monetise.

Policy-makers, faced with decisions on proposed building developments or air pollution control strategies, may find it difficult to take health impact into account. For my research, I aim to develop a comprehensive air quality health impact assessment (AQHIA) tool for Hong Kong that can systematically assist in this decision-making process. This assessment tool will consider a number of criteria air pollutants, and calculate their impacts upon the city’s population, for a range of health outcomes and, where possible, their related economic impacts. In so doing, I hope to pave the way towards pushing for more stringent project requirements and better pollution controls, thus leading eventually to cleaner air.