Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Ambient Air Particulate Matter in Tehran

Abstract

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has indirectly produced both positive and negative effects on the environment, particularly in terms of air quality. Our study aimed to determine these effects in the city of Tehran by comparing the ambient PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels recorded at 22 air quality monitoring stations during the outbreak (20 February-2 April 2020) with those from the corresponding period last year (20 February-3 April 2019). Contrary to expectation, the average concentrations of both the PM 2.5 and the PM 10 were markedly higher during the former, increasing by 20.5% and 15.7%, respectively, for the first month of the outbreak (20 February-19 March 2020) and by 23.5% and 20.0% for the subsequent Nowruz New Year holidays (from late March till early April), which resulted in overall increases of 20.5% and 16.5% for the entire period. The non-integrated responses to the pandemic, including the failure to close administrative centers and, in particular, the recommendation to maintain social distancing by reducing public transportation use (prompting citizens to travel by private vehicle), have worsened the ambient air quality in Tehran, providing an exceptional opportunity to evaluate the direct/indirect influence of air quality policies and emission control measures on PM 2.5 and PM 10 . Because of the significant association between the lethality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and exposure to ambient air pollution, the rise in airborne PM 2.5 during this outbreak may increase the mortality rate of SARS-CoV-2.

Analysis of Air Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Naples (Italy)

“…A study conducted in Iran (Broomandi et al, 2020) highlighted that unfavourable meteorological conditions as a combination of reduced rainfall and relative humidity and increased temperature can hinder pollutant dispersion increasing the aerosol optical depth in the atmosphere during lockdown. This result agrees with the observations performed in Tehran by Faridi et al (2020) that reported higher concentrations of both PM2.5 (20.5 %) and PM10 (16.5 %) during lockdown.…”

Assessment of Air Quality Changes in the Four Metropolitan Cities of India during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

“…In concordance with the observed findings, a 10% reduction in the average level of particulate matter pollution was observed during the one month of lockdown in Europe (CREA, 2020), while in Barcelona (Spain) the reduction of PM 10 varied from 28 to 31% (Tobias et al, 2020). However, during COVID-19 pandemic due to excess use of private vehicles in Iran to avoid the social contact resulted in worsening of the ambient particulate matter quality (Faridi et al, 2020). The significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the mean concentration of NO 2 was observed in all the four cities, with highest reduction noticed in Mumbai (74.4%).…”

A correlation study between weather and atmosphere with COVID-19 pandemic in Islamabad, Pakistan

“…The emission of greenhouse gases and the air pollutants have decreased considerably due to the enforcement of protective quarantine, specifically closures of shopping centers and factories, limitations on transportation, and travel all over the world [32,33]. In contrast, recent research in Tehran narrated an upsurge in the concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 owing to an increase in the usage of private cars during the quarantine [34]. Studies performed in various territories of China have demonstrated that stringent COVID-19 control strategies substantially decreased intensities of certain toxins excluding ozone [35,36].…”