Impact of Corona Virus Stay-at-Home Policies on Traffic Emissions and Ambient Pollutant Concentrations in Ghana, West Africa

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine how policies for stay-at-home (lockdown) and phases of easing the lockdown, implemented by the Government of Ghana to slow the spread of COVID-19, impacted traffic emissions and ambient concentrations of particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5). Monthly data was collected from January 2020 to June 2020 from four roadside monitoring locations using mini vol air samplers. High-volume ambient samplers were used to collect PM data at two permanent (industrial and residential) locations. Monthly concentrations were presented in tables over the six-month period. Results showed that PM2.5 concentrations decreased over Greater Accra in the month of April during the initial lockdown, when only essential workers went to work, and increased thereafter. Compared with 2019 data, the PM2.5 concentrations of roadside monitoring points at Kaneshie First Light, Shangri-la, Tantra Hill and Amasaman were lowered by 45.5%, 46.7%, 82.4%, 72.7%, respectively. This was consistent with the measured reductions in mobility during the lock-down. However, PM10 concentrations were higher at the same four roadside monitoring points and industrial monitoring points near the power plant during the lockdown compared to the same period in 2019. This increase may have been due to residential biomass burning during stay-at-home orders, or increased electricity production to support home activity. In conclusion, worldwide researches collected pollution data using remote sensing and satellite where as in this study conducted in Ghana pollution data was collected using ground-level monitors.

Between Policy and Risk Communication: Coverage of Air Pollution in Ghanaian Newspapers

“…Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced air pollution coverage as evidenced in some of the banner headlines since the onset of the pandemic. The general perception is that the lockdown periods may have improved the quality of air pollution because of reduced traffic on the roads (see also [ 50 ]). Despite the visibility given to public officials, yearly events, and international and national bodies in the coverage of air pollution issues, we did not see headlines covering the work of the academic and scientific community (see also [ 2 ]).…”