Inthispaper,weconstructamodelinwhichtheimpactofpollutiononhealthisexertedthroughbothdirectandindirectchannels.Theindirectchanneliscapturedbyaproductionfunc-tioninwhichtheprincipalhealth-improvingfactor,incomegrowth,canberealizedonlyinthecostofpollutionincrease.Thismodelisthentestedbytheaggregatedchroniclediseasedatainover78Chinesecounties.Ourresultsshow,afterattainingthethresholdof8μg/m2,continuousincreaseinindustrialSO2emissiondensitywillleadtheratioofpopulationsufferingchroniclediseases,amongwhichrespiratorydiseasesoccupyasignificantproportion,torise.However,owingtotechnologicalprogressinpollutioncontrolactivities,theneededSO2emissiontoproduceoneunitofGDPdiminisheswithtime.Therefore,thenegativeeffectfrompollutionaugmentationonpublichealthseemstoberecompensedmoreandmorebythepositiveeffectofeconomicgrowth.
