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The Improvement of Air Quality and Associated Mortality during the COVID-19 Lockdown in One Megacity of China: An Empirical Strategy.

ABSTRACT: Although the lockdown policy implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic indeed improved the air quality and reduced the related health risks, the real effects of the lockdown and its resulting health risks remain unclear considering the effects of unobserved confounders and the longstanding efforts of the government regarding air pollution. We compared air pollution between the lockdown period and the period before the lockdown using a difference-in-differences (DID) model and estimated the mortality burden caused by the number of deaths related to air pollution changes. The NO₂ and CO concentrations during the lockdown period (17 days) declined by 8.94 μg/m³ (relative change: 16.94%; 95% CI: 3.71, 14.16) and 0.20 mg/m³ (relative change: 16.95%; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.35) on an average day, respectively, and O₃ increased by 8.41 μg/m³ (relative change: 32.80%; 95% CI: 4.39, 12.43); no meaningful impacts of the lockdown policy on the PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, or the AQI values were observed. Based on the three clearly changed air pollutants, the lockdown policy prevented 8.22 (95% CI: 3.97, 12.49) all-cause deaths. Our findings suggest that the overall excess deaths caused by air pollution during the lockdown period declined. It is beneficial for human health when strict control measures, such as upgrading industry structure and promoting green transportation, are taken to reduce emissions, especially in cities with serious air pollution in China, such as Shijiazhuang.

SUBMITTER: Xu Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8391611 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The diverse climate types and the complex anthropogenic source emissions in China lead to the great regional differences of air pollution mechanisms. The COVID-19 lockdown has given us a precious opportunity to understand the effect of weather conditions and anthropogenic sources on the distribution of air pollutants in different climate zones. In this study, to understand the impact of meteorological and socio-economic factors on air pollution during COVID-19 lockdown, we divided 358 Chinese cities into eight climate regions. Temporal, spatial and diurnal variations of six major air pollutants from January 1 to April 18, 2020 were analyzed. The differences in the characteristics of air pollutants in different climate zones were obvious. PM2.5 reduced by 59.0%-64.2% in cold regions (North-East China (NEC) and North-Western (NW)), while O3 surged by 99.0%-99.9% in warm regions (Central South (CS) and Southern Coast (SC)). Diurnal variations of atmospheric pollutants were also more prominent in cold regions. Moreover, PM2.5, PM10, CO and SO2 showed more prominent reductions (20.5%-64.2%) in heating regions (NEC, NW, NCP and MG) than no-heating regions (0.8%-48%). Climate has less influence on NO2, which dropped by 41.2%-57.1% countrywide during the lockdown. The influences of weather conditions on the atmospheric pollutants in different climate zones were different. The wind speed was not the primary reason for the differences in air pollutants in different climate zones. Temperature, precipitation, and air pollution emissions led to prominent regional differences in air pollutants throughout the eight climates. The effect of temperature on PM, SO2, CO, and NO2 varied obviously with the latitude, at which condition temperature was negatively correlated to PM, SO2, CO, and NO2 in the north but positively in the south. The temperature was positively correlated to ozone in different climate zones, and the correlation was the highest in NEC and the lowest in SC. The rainfall has a strong removal effect on atmospheric pollutants in the climate regions with more precipitation, but it increases the pollutant concentrations in the climate regions with less precipitation. In regions with more emission sources, air pollutants experienced more significant variations and returned to pre-lockdown levels earlier.

Dataset Information

The Improvement of Air Quality and Associated Mortality during the COVID-19 Lockdown in One Megacity of China: An Empirical Strategy.

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