{
  "abstract": "Air pollution and urban warming are increasingly intertwined, with heat-enhanced photochemistry making ozone an increasingly important concern for population health even where PM 2.5 has declined. Here we develop an interpretable machine-learning environmental health framework to characterize non-linear long-term exposure-response patterns for cold-season PM 2.5 and warm-season ozone and to compare pollutant-specific risk patterns over time. Using cancer panel data from 813 counties in China (2018–2019) and multi-source exposure and contextual indicators, we estimate model-based reference thresholds and construct threshold-anchored exceedance and normalized excess-hazard indices for cross-year spatiotemporal comparison across 2017–2023. The resulting indicators suggest a divergence in pollutant-related risk patterns, with lower PM 2.5 -related pressure and more prominent ozone-related pressure over time, a pattern consistent with strengthening temperature-O 3 coupling. The spatial pattern of the ozone-dominance index shows clustered hotspots aligned with major urban agglomerations and densely populated corridors, with notable concentrations in the Sichuan-Chongqing urban cluster and the Yangtze River Delta. When combined with population ageing, the ozone-dominance pattern indicates compound vulnerability that is unevenly distributed and increasingly concentrated in higher-ageing urban areas over time, suggesting growing spatial inequality in ozone-related risk patterns. These findings provide effect-anchored indicators for spatiotemporal risk surveillance and environmental safety prioritization under evolving air-pollution regimes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200093, China; Correspondence to: No. 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200093, China.",
    "School of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200093, China; Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, 20158, Italy",
    "Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing, China; German Academy of Science and Engineering, Munich, Germany",
    "College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200093, China; Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing, China; German Academy of Science and Engineering, Munich, Germany",
    "College of Design and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China; Correspondence to: No. 288 Liuhe Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou 310023, China."
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhen He"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jinghao Hei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Otthein Herzog"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Zhiqiang Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Xiang Li"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5wfbxymnj2a9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120945",
  "fulltext_url": "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651326012753",
  "id": "b5wfbxymnj2a9",
  "issns": [
    "0147-6513",
    "1090-2414"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120945",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "GE1-350"
    ],
    [
      "lcc",
      "TD172-193.5"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2307|Air Quality and Health Impacts"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223158485",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5wfbxymnj2a9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:43:32Z",
      "native_id": "435ceea1f16742778d993d8a0c6927b9",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120945"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2307|Air Quality and Health Impacts",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A nationwide effect-based assessment of ozone-dominant air pollution risk patterns and ageing-related inequality in China",
  "title_text": "A nationwide effect-based assessment of ozone-dominant air pollution risk patterns and ageing-related inequality in China",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:43:32Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5wfbxymnj2a9",
  "venue": "Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety",
  "versions": []
}