Dataset Information

Air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China: An insight into the transport pathways and source distribution.

ABSTRACT: Although anthropogenic emissions decreased, polluted days still occurred in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Analysis of the characteristics and source distribution of large-scale air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak (from 23 January to April 8, 2020) in the BTH region is helpful for exploring the efficacy of control measures and policy making. The results indicated that the BTH region suffered two large-scale air pollution episodes (23-28 January and 8-13 February), which were characterized by elevated PM_2.5, SO₂, NO₂, and CO concentrations, while the O₃ concentration decreased by 1.5%-33.9% (except in Shijiazhuang, where it increased by 16.6% during the second episode). These large-scale air pollution episodes were dominated by unfavorable meteorological conditions comprising a low wind speed and increased relative humidity. The transport pathways and source distribution were explored using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT), potential source contribution function (PSCF), and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) models. The air pollution in the BTH region was mainly affected by local emission sources during the first episode, which contributed 51.6%-60.6% of the total trajectories in the BTH region with a PM_2.5 concentration ranging from 146.2 ?g/m³ to 196.7 ?g/m³. The short-distance air masses from the southern and southwestern areas of the BTH region were the main transport pathways of airflow arriving in the BTH region during the second episode. These contributed 51.9%-57.9% of the total trajectories and originated in Hebei, Henan, central Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces, which were the areas contributing the most to the PM_2.5 level and exhibited the highest PSCF and CWT values. Therefore, on the basis of local emission reduction, enhancing regional environmental cooperation and implementing a united prevention and control of air pollution are effective mitigation measures for the BTH region.

SUBMITTER: Zhao N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7477629 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China: An insight into the transport pathways and source distribution.

Zhao Na N Wang Gang G Li Guohao G Lang Jianlei J Zhang Hanyu H

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) 20200908

Although anthropogenic emissions decreased, polluted days still occurred in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Analysis of the characteristics and source distribution of large-scale air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak (from 23 January to April 8, 2020) in the BTH region is helpful for exploring the efficacy of control measures and policy making. The results indicated that the BTH region suffered two large-scal ...[more]

PMID: 33254609

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Project description:A direct and quantitative linkage of air pollution-related health effects to emissions from different sources is critically important for decision-making. While a number of studies have attributed the PM2.5-related health impacts to emission sources, they have seldom examined the complicated nonlinear relationships between them. Here we investigate the nonlinear relationships between PM2.5-related premature mortality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, one of the most polluted regions in the world, and emissions of different pollutants from multiple sectors and regions, through a combination of chemical transport model (CTM), extended response surface model (ERSM), and concentration-response functions (CRFs). The mortalities due to both long-term and short-term exposures to PM2.5 are most sensitive to the emission reductions of primary PM2.5, followed by NH3, nonmethane volatile organic compounds and intermediate volatility organic compounds (NMVOC+IVOC). The sensitivities of long-term mortality to emissions of primary organic aerosol (POA), NMVOC+IVOC and SO2 do not change much with reduction ratio, whereas the sensitivities to primary inorganic PM2.5 (defined as all chemical components of primary PM2.5 other than POA), NH3 and NOx increase significantly with the increase of reduction ratio. The emissions of primary PM2.5, especially those from the residential and commercial sectors, contribute a larger fraction of mortality in winter (57-70%) than in other seasons (28-42%). When emissions of multiple pollutants or those from both local and regional emissions are controlled simultaneously, the overall sensitivity of long-term mortality is much larger than the arithmetic sum of the sensitivities to emissions of individual pollutants or from individual regions. This implies that a multi-pollutant, multi-sector and regional joint control strategy should be implemented to maximize the marginal health benefits. For NOx emissions, we suggest a nationwide control strategy which significantly enhances the effectiveness for reducing mortality by avoiding possible side effects when only the emissions within the BTH region are reduced.

Dataset Information

Air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China: An insight into the transport pathways and source distribution.

Publications

Air pollution episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China: An insight into the transport pathways and source distribution.

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