Temporary reduction in VOCs associated with health risk during and after COVID-19 in Maharashtra, India

Abstract

A novel coronavirus has affected almost all countries and impacted the economy, environment, and social life. The short-term impact on the environment and human health needs attention to correlate the Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and health assessment for pre-, during, and post lockdowns. Therefore, the current study demonstrates VOC changes and their effect on air quality during the lockdown. The findings of result, the levels of the mean for total VOC concentrations were found to be 15.45 ± 21.07, 2.48 ± 1.61, 19.25 ± 28.91 µg/m 3 for all monitoring stations for pre-, during, and post lockdown periods. The highest value of TVOCs was observed at Thane, considered an industrial region (petroleum refinery), and the lowest at Bandra, which was considered a residential region, respectively. The VOC levels drastically decreased by 52%, 89%, 80%, and 97% for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and m-xylene, respectively, during the lockdown period compared to the previous year. In the present study, the T/B ratio was found lower in the lockdown period as compared to the pre-lockdown period. This can be attributed to the complete closure of non-traffic sources such as industries and factories during the lockdown. The Lifetime Cancer Risk values for all monitoring stations for benzene for pre-and-post lockdown periods were higher than the prescribed value, except during the lockdown period. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10874-022-09440-5.

Substantial changes in Gaseous pollutants and health effects during COVID-19 in Delhi, India

“…A study conducted in Delhi reported that anthropogenic VOC contribution varied between 60–70% in traffic intersection sites ( Kashyap et al, 2019 ). A similar study claimed that workplace cancer risks were reported highest at traffic intersections, followed by industrial sites ( Kumar et al, 2020 ; Singh et al, 2022b ). Although various studies have been reported for early phases of lockdown in countries such as China, Italy, USA ( Dutheil, Baker & Navel, 2020 ; Tobías et al, 2020 ; Xu et al, 2020 ); and a few studies on metropolitan cities of India such as Delhi and Mumbai ( Jain & Sharma, 2020 ; Mahato, Pal & Ghosh, 2020 ; Sharma et al, 2020 ; Sahoo et al, 2020 ; Singh et al, 2021c ); however, a detailed analysis involving various phases of lockdown and unlockdown is essential.…”

“…In the present study, secondary data on gaseous pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), Nitrogen oxide (NO), oxide of Nitrogen (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), ammonia (NH 3 ), and ozone (O 3 ) were collected from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on a daily basis. To determine the relative changes (%) in gaseous pollutants for pre-, lockdown, and unlockdown stages, data from January 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, was collected from CPCB ( https://app.cpcbccr.com/ccr/#/caaqm-dashboard-all/caaqm-landing ) as previously described in Singh et al (2022) ; Singh et al (2022a) ; Singh et al (2022b) .…”

Statistical analysis, source apportionment, and toxicity of particulate- and gaseous-phase PAHs in the urban atmosphere

“…In the last few decades, urban air pollution has become a serious environmental problem, especially in developing countries, including India (1)(2)(3)(4). Widespread industrialization, rapid urban planning, and a large increase in the number of vehicles with a high population density have been responsible for a deterioration in the ambient air quality (5)(6)(7)(8). Among air pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most important due to their impact on both health and climate (9)(10)(11).…”

Substantial Changes in Selected Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Associations with Health Risk Assessments in Industrial Areas during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, due to shallower boundary layer depths, higher concentrations of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and CO were found in the wintertime and transported from the polluted Indo-Gangetic Plain region. Relatively high loadings of benzene (~30%), toluene (45%), and CO (32%), respectively, were observed in vehicle exhaust by using the positive matrix factorization analysis method [ 34 ].…”