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Impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak on multi-scale air quality.

ABSTRACT: One of the multi-facet impacts of lockdowns during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic was restricted economic and transport activities. This has resulted in the reduction of air pollution concentrations observed globally. This study is aimed at examining the concentration changes in air pollutants (i.e., carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃), and particulate matters (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) during the period March-April 2020. Data from both satellite observations (for NO₂) and ground-based measurements (for all other pollutants) were utilized to analyze the changes when compared against the same months between 2015 and 2019. Globally, space borne NO₂ column observations observed by satellite (OMI on Aura) were reduced by approximately 9.19% and 9.57%, in March and April 2020, respectively because of public health measures enforced to contain the coronavirus disease outbreak (COVID-19). On a regional scale and after accounting for the effects of meteorological variability, most monitoring sites in Europe, USA, China, and India showed declines in CO, NO₂, SO₂, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ concentrations during the period of analysis. An increase in O₃ concentrations occurred during the same period. Meanwhile, four major cities case studies i.e. in New York City (USA), Milan (Italy), Wuhan (China), and New Delhi (India) have also shown a similar reduction trends as observed on the regional scale, and an increase in ozone concentration. This study highlights that the reductions in air pollutant concentrations have overall improved global air quality likely driven in part by economic slowdowns resulting from the global pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Bray CD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8018787 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The UK implemented a lockdown in Spring (2020) to curtail the person-to-person transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Measures restricted movements to one outing per day for exercise and shopping, otherwise most people were restricted to their dwelling except for key workers (e.g. medical, supermarkets, and transport). In this study, we quantified changes to air quality across the United Kingdom from 30/03/2020 to 03/05/2020 (weeks 14-18), the period of most stringent travel restrictions. Daily pollutant measurements of NO2, O3 and PM2.5 from the national network of monitoring sites during this period were compared with measurements over the same period during 2017-19. Comparisons were also made with predicted concentrations for the 2020 period from business-as-usual (BAU) modelling, where the contributions of normal anthropogenic activities were estimated under the observed meteorological conditions. During the lockdown study period there was a 69% reduction in traffic overall (74% reduction in light and 35% in heavy vehicles). Measurements from 129 monitoring stations, identified mean reductions in NO2 of 38.3% (-8.8 μg/m3) and PM2.5 of 16.5% (-2.2 μg/m3). Improvements in NO2 and PM2.5 were largest at urban traffic sites and more modest at background locations where a large proportion of the population live. In contrast, O3 concentrations on average increased by 7.6% (+4.8 μg/m3) with the largest increases at roadside sites due to reductions in local emissions of NO. A lack of VOC monitoring limited our capacity to interpret changes in O3 at urban background locations. BAU models predicted comparable NO2 reductions and O3 gains, although PM2.5 episodes would have been more prominent without lockdown. Results demonstrate the relatively modest contribution of traffic to air quality, suggesting that sustained improvements in air quality require actions across various sectors, including working with international and European initiatives on long-range transport air pollutants, especially PM2.5 and O3.

Project description:In response to the rapid spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) within and across countries and the need to protect public health, governments worldwide introduced unprecedented measures such as restricted road and air travel and reduced human mobility in 2020. The curtailment of personal travel and economic activity provided a unique opportunity for researchers to assess the interplay between anthropogenic emissions of primary air pollutants, their physical transport, chemical transformation, ultimate fate and potential health impacts. In general, reductions in the atmospheric levels of outdoor air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were observed in many countries during the lockdowns. However, the levels of ozone (O3), a secondary air pollutant linked to asthma and respiratory ailments, and secondary PM were frequently reported to remain unchanged or even increase. An increase in O3 can enhance the formation of secondary PM2.5, especially secondary organic aerosols, through the atmospheric oxidation of VOCs. Given that the gaseous precursors of O3 (VOCs and NOx) are also involved in the formation of secondary PM2.5, an integrated control strategy should focus on reducing the emission of the common precursors for the co-mitigation of PM2.5 and O3 with an emphasis on their complex photochemical interactions. Compared to outdoor air quality, comprehensive investigations of indoor air quality (IAQ) are relatively sparse. People spend more than 80% of their time indoors with exposure to air pollutants of both outdoor and indoor origins. Consequently, an integrated assessment of exposure to air pollutants in both outdoor and indoor microenvironments is needed for effective urban air quality management and for mitigation of health risk. To provide further insights into air quality, we do a critical review of scientific articles, published from January 2020 to December 2020 across the globe. Finally, we discuss policy implications of our review in the context of global air quality improvement.

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Impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 outbreak on multi-scale air quality.

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