How does COVID-19 lockdown affect air quality: Evidence from Lanzhou, a large city in Northwest China

Yang, Jianping; Ji, Qin; Pu, Hongzheng; Dong, Xinyang; Yang, Qin

doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101533

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Severe dust storms from Mongolia sweeping through northern China in 2021 may indicate the beginning of an upward trend in dust storms, as the climate in inner East Asia has suddenly shifted to drier and hotter over the past two decades 69 . Due to the special natural environment, the northwest China region is more susceptible to natural sources of pollution than the eastern and central regions 70 , 71 . Dust storms consist of a complex mixture of elements, compounds, and pathogenic agents that can lead to various diseases.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of air pollution and associated health risks in Gansu Province, China from 2015 to 2022

Cheng,

Ma,

Qin

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Air pollution poses a major threat to both the environment and public health. The air quality index (AQI), aggregate AQI, new health risk–based air quality index (NHAQI), and NHAQI-WHO were employed to quantitatively evaluate the characterization of air pollution and the associated health risk in Gansu Province before (P-I) and after (P-II) COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated that AQI system undervalued the comprehensive health risk impact of the six criteria pollutants compared with the other three indices. The stringent lockdown measures contributed to a considerable reduction in SO2, CO, PM2.5, NO2 and PM10; these concentrations were 43.4%, 34.6%, 21.4%, 17.4%, and 14.2% lower in P-II than P-I, respectively. But the concentration of O3 had no obvious improvement. The higher sandstorm frequency in P-II led to no significant decrease in the ERtotal and even resulted in an increase in the average ERtotal in cities located in northwestern Gansu from 0.78% in P-I to 1.0% in P-II. The cumulative distribution of NHAQI-based population-weighted exposure revealed that 24% of the total population was still exposed to light pollution in spring during P-II, while the air quality in other three seasons had significant improvements and all people were under healthy air quality level.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of air pollution and associated health risks in Gansu Province, China from 2015 to 2022

Cheng,

Ma,

Qin

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…Ma et al, 2023), Lanzhou (J. Yang et al, 2023), Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (Ren et al, 2023), London (Zhang & Stevenson, 2022), Sri Lanka (Pushpawela et al, 2023), etc. O 3 is a secondary pollutant whose chemical formation depends on nitrogen oxides (NO x ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and solar radiation.…”

Section: Temporal Changes In Air Pollutant Concentrations In Differen...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the mass concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 , and CO showed a downward trend after the lockdown (Figures 2, 3, and 4). This is because the process of resuming social production and daily life is gradual (Cai et al, 2021;J. Yang et al, 2023;Zhang et al, 2023).…”

Section: Temporal Changes In Air Pollutant Concentrations In Differen...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zheng et al, 2021;Cao et al, 2022;Cooper et al, 2022;Huang & Li, 2022;K. Li et al, 2022;Mamtimin et al, 2022;Bagherinia et al, 2023;Gao et al, 2023;Jia et al, 2023;Pushpawela et al, 2023;Ren et al, 2023;Sekar et al, 2023;Wang & Ge, 2023;Wong et al, 2023;J. Yang et al, 2023;.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Most studies report an improvement in air quality and a significant reduction in PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , CO, and SO 2 during the lockdown compared to pre-lockdown periods and/or previous years, suggesting a significant correlation between anthropogenic activities and air pollution (Bao & Zhang, 2020;He et al, 2020;Huang & Li, 2022;K. Li et al, 2022;Mamtimin et al, 2022;Bagherinia et al, 2023;Gao et al, 2023;Jia et al, 2023;Pushpawela et al, 2023;Ren et al, 2023;Sekar et al, 2023;Wang & Ge, 2023;Wong et al, 2023;J. Yang et al, 2023;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown on Air Pollution in an Industrial City in Northeastern China

Wang,

Zhao

et al. 2023

Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management

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Many studies in China investigated how the lockdown following the coronavirus disease 2019 substantially affected air quality; however, few were conducted in Northeastern China. Here, the changes in six criteria air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone (O3), were investigated in Shenyang from January to May 2015–2020. Compared with the pre-lockdown, the mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO during the lockdown decreased by 40.3% to 48.6%, indicating a positive impact of lockdown policies on reducing pollutant emissions. The responses of PM2.5, PM10, and CO to the lockdown measures in downtown areas were more sensitive than in the suburbs. However, the O3 concentration showed the opposite trend, attributed to the drop in NOx and particulate matters. Compared to the same period in 2015–2019, the proportion of days with good air quality increased from 63.2% to 77.2% during the lockdown and Shenyang experienced no severe pollution. Our results suggest that reducing human activities can improve air quality; however, coordinated control policies of O3, PM2.5, and NO2 are imperative.

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Effect of COVID‐19 lockdown on ambient air quality

Çalik,

Çetin Doğruparmak

2024

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pandemic‐related lockdown on Turkey's air quality throughout time and space. For this purpose, statistical techniques were used to assess daily particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides and nitrogen dioxide (NOx and NO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). The study's findings showed that, while the lockdown improved air quality in terms of air pollutant emissions, the most notable reduction was in NO2 and NOx emissions. When comparing the months prior to the pandemic (November 2019 to January 2020) with the months during the pandemic (November 2020 to January 2021), the declines in NO2 were 20%, 3%, and 0.5%, respectively. NOx emissions decreased by an average of 19% and 5% in November and December, respectively, and increased by an average of 16% in January during the pandemic. When the data for the 33 days of lockdown were compared to the data for the same 33 days the previous year, significant differences were determined at several Clean Air Centers, which were two for PM10, two for SO2, seven for NOx, four for NO2, two for CO, and three for O3, respectively. In this study, pollutant concentrations were found in the following ranges from November 2019 to January 2021: PM10: 3–208 µg m–3, SO2: 1–56 µg m–3, NOx: 6–600 µg m–3, NO2: 4–155 µg m–3, CO: 1–3921 µg m–3, and O3: 2–119 µg m–3. There were days that exceeded the limit values for PM10.

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How does COVID-19 lockdown affect air quality: Evidence from Lanzhou, a large city in Northwest China

Cited by 6 publications

References 81 publications

Characterization of air pollution and associated health risks in Gansu Province, China from 2015 to 2022

Characterization of air pollution and associated health risks in Gansu Province, China from 2015 to 2022

Impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown on Air Pollution in an Industrial City in Northeastern China

Effect of COVID‐19 lockdown on ambient air quality

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