Unintended consequences of SO2 mitigation: Increased PM and infant mortality in China

This study uses the staggered installation of wet flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) facilities at 4486 coal-fired power plants from 2000 to 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment to detect the impact of sulfur dioxide (SO2) mitigation on infant health in China. Our findings reveal that the installation of wet FGD facilities effectively reduces SO2 concentrations. However, it may unintentionally increase PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 1.399 mu g/m3 and 1.803 mu g/m3 on ambient air, respectively, correlating with a 1.785 increase in the number of deaths per 1000 live infants. Interestingly, decreasing SO2 concentrations seems to have no considerable impact on the rates of infant mortality. Infants in urban areas, who are especially vulnerable, face heightened risks due to changes in PM concentrations. We monetized the negative externalities brought by wet FGD and found that increased infant mortality resulted in approximately 16,890 premature infant deaths in 2012 alone, alongside an economic loss of approximately RMB 209.8 billion (about $ 33.3 billion).