Premature deaths related to PM2.5 pollution in 31 major Chinese cities reached 257,000 in 2013, making it a major killer equivalent to smoking, according to a yearlong study released on Wednesday.

The study, conducted by Greenpeace, the environmental protection group, and Peking University's School of Public Health, took each of the 31 major Chinese cities' average PM2.5 concentration and applied a World Health Organization model to estimate health effects.

It focused mainly on four conditions, including lung cancer and stroke, which have been tied to exposure to the fine particulate matter.

The WHO model is authoritative, said Pan Xiaochuan, professor of public health at Peking University and one of the study's authors.

The study said there were around 90 premature deaths for every 100,000 people from PM2.5 pollutants, which are airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can penetrate the lungs.

That means, for example, that in Beijing, pollution-related deaths would have exceeded 18,000 in 2013.

The rate was higher in heavily polluted cities like Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, and Jinan, Shandong province, the study said, adding that the number of deaths caused by PM2.5 pollution may equal those from smoking.

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