Assessing combined PM2.5-O3 risks in China using a multidimensional hazard-exposure-vulnerability framework (2000–2023)

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Near-surface PM 2.5 and O 3 critically impact China’s environmental and human health, yet single-pollutant risk assessments from a unidimensional perspective inadequately support macro-scale control. This study developed a multidimensional framework (hazard-exposure-vulnerability) to evaluate PM 2.5 , O 3 , and their combined risks across China from 2000 to 2023, integrating satellite-derived pollution data (CHAP), LandScan population and mortality statistics from GBD and censuses. Results reveal spatiotemporal differences among PM 2.5 and O 3 across different assessment dimensions, indicating the more comprehensive reflection of pollution risk. PM 2.5 risk peaked around 2011 before declining, while O 3 risk rose significantly post-2016. Combined risks showed a rise-decline-rise pattern with fluctuations, suggesting incomplete efficacy of coordinated controls since 2021. Areas with PM 2.5 pollution risks classified as relatively high or higher levels substantially exceeded O 3 zones during 2000–2016, but those for O 3 expanded significantly post-2017, particularly in 2019 and 2023. From 2000 to 2016, PM 2.5 and O 3 combined risks spatially coincided with PM 2.5 patterns, but after 2017, they showed superimposed effects of both pollutants. These results underscore the need for spatiotemporal stratified coordinated strategies. Macro-level governance priorities should focus on southern Xinjiang, parts of North China Plain (e.g., Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan), followed by western Tibet and Inner Mongolia, northern Gansu, southern Shanxi, eastern Hubei, and the northern Yangtze River Delta. This study enhances understanding of PM 2.5 and O 3 combined pollution dynamics and their integrated risks, providing support for coordinated pollution control and sustainable health strategies. The multidimensional assessment offers a feasible method for deconstructing the complex impacts of air pollution.