Based on the data of the chemical accidents in typical Chinese chemical industry from 1979 to 2018. The risk characteristics of air pollution were analyzed. Based on the statistical method, this paper makes a statistical analysis of the basic characteristics of the sudden environmental pollution accidents in recent years. The results show that the main types of sudden environmental pollution accidents are leakages, poisoning, explosions and fires; the main causes of the accidents are poor management, illegal command, illegal operations and violation of labor discipline; the main types of pollutants produced are hydrogen sulfide (H2S), chlorine (Cl2), liquid ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO), vinyl chloride (C2H3Cl, CH2CHCl) and other toxic and harmful substances; and the main place of the accident occurred in the production workshop.