NO2 is a mainly anthropogenic gas that affects population health and its exposure is associated with several respiratory diseases. Its tropospheric concentration is associated with vehicle emissions. During 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns have impeded population's mobility, hence constructing an almost ideal situation to study their relationship with tropospheric NO2 concentration. We used TROPOMI satellite images, Google mobility reports and vehicule count in order to study these relationships in six big Latin American metropolitan areas. In all of them, tropospheric NO2 concentration decreased during 2020 compared to 2019, particularly during April 2020. The daily vehicle count in Buenos Aires was a significantly important variable in order to explain NO2 concentration variations. This study strengthens previous research findings about NO2 concentration reduction during COVID-19 lockdowns and shows the relationship between human mobility and air pollution in the particular context of Latin America big cities.

In the present study, the temporal dynamics of the main vector of Leishmania braziliensis, Nyssomyia whitmani, was measured by monthly captures of phlebotominae sandflies during 5 consecutive years (from 2011 to 2016) in the Paranaense region of South America. The captures were performed in environments where the human–vector contact risk is high: domiciliary and peridomiciliary environments in a rural area endemic of tegumentary leishmaniasis. Nyssomyia whitmani was recorded as the dominant species of the phlebotominae ensemble in all domiciliary and peridomiciliary environments (House, Chicken Shed, Pigsty, and Forest Edge). Using generalized additive models, intra- and interannual fluctuations were observed, modulated by meteorological variables such as the minimum temperature and the accumulated precipitation 1 wk prior to capture. The installation of a pigsty by the farmer during the study period allowed us to observe and describe the so-called “pigsty effect” where the Ny. whitmani population was spatially redistributed, turning the pigsty as the environment that obtained the highest phlebotominae record counts, thus maintaining the farm overall abundance, supporting the idea that the environmental management of the peridomicile could have an impact on the reduction of epidemiological risk by altering the spatial distribution of the phlebotominae ensemble in the environments.

NO2 is a mainly anthropogenic gas that affects population health and its exposure is associated with several respiratory diseases. Its tropospheric concentration is associated with vehicle emissions. During 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns have impeded populations mobility, hence constructing an almost ideal situation to study their relationship with tropospheric NO2 concentration. We used TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) satellite images, Google mobility reports and vehicule count in order to study these relationships in six big Latin American metropolitan areas: Mexico DF, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Lima and Bogota. In all of them, tropospheric NO2 concentration decreased during 2020 compared to 2019, particularly during April 2020. Temperature differences alone could not explain the NO2 concentration differences between February and April 2020. The daily vehicle count in Buenos Aires was a significantly important variable in order to explain NO2 concentration variations (p < 0.001) and it could be replaced by the daily Googles residential variation without significant information loss (p~1). This study strengthens previous research findings about NO2 concentration reduction during COVID-19 lockdowns and shows the relationship between human mobility and air pollution in the particular context of Latin America big cities.