A Quantitative Analysis of Health Risk Perception, Exposure Levels, and WTP/WTA of PM2.5 during the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games

摘要

Local governments in China regularly implement authoritative short-term emission control measures to improve air quality during important sporting events. As a condition for hosting the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the local government of Nanjing agreed to temporarily and substantially improve air quality in Nanjing for the YOG. Regression analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, chi-square test, and the Contingent Valuation method were used to explore the effects of robust, short-term air pollution control measures on 1) health risk perception, 2) daily exposure to PM2.5, 3) health risk acceptance levels, and 4) willingness to pay/accept (WTP/WTA) for eliminating health risk level. Post-implementation, the respondents' health risk perception levels presented the following changes: during the YOG, the respondents perceived the lowest effects of haze pollution while after the YOG, they perceived the highest effects. The changes in health risk acceptance levels showed the same tendency, demonstrating that people were more sensitive to PM2.5 exposure and held higher standards for air quality after the government implemented the emission control measures. Meanwhile, after the YOG, the respondents asked for the most economic compensation and their WTP for risk reduction also reached the highest level. This study reveals the need to 1) raise public awareness about the health risks of air pollution, 2) protect those populations most exposed to high levels of PM2.5, and 3) take more effective long-term measures to meet local residents' demands for improved air quality.