Air Quality during COVID-19 in Four Megacities: Lessons and Challenges for Public Health

Connerton, P.; Assunção, João Vicente de; Miranda, Regina Maura de; Slovic, Anne Dorothée; Pérez-Martínez, Pedro José; Ribeiro, Helena

doi:10.3390/ijerph17145067

Cited by 71 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The average CO levels decreased during the partial lockdown by −46.20%, and the area monitored by the AQ-IoT-6 station recorded a decrease of -50.31% in the same period ( Figure 6 ). However, the CO values are high compared to the values reported in the recent literature ( Connerton et al, 2020 ; Nakada and Urban, 2020 ;); we observed that the primary source of CO emission is motor vehicles (86%) because a non-emission vehicle pollutant verification standard has not been implemented by the State Government. Figure 6 shows the decrease in CO in the air during the twelve weeks after lockdown, a notable decrease in the concentration of several pollutants is identified between the fourth and sixth week of the study (from March 14 to 28).…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 60%

Association of environmental and meteorological factors on the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria, Mexico, and air quality during the lockdown

Tello-Leal

Macías-Hernández

2021

Environmental Research

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 60%

Association of environmental and meteorological factors on the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria, Mexico, and air quality during the lockdown

Tello-Leal

Macías-Hernández

2021

Environmental Research

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“…Comparable PM 2.5 reductions were registered in Shanghai (−27%) by Shakoor et al. (2020) , Paris (−28%) by Connerton et al. (2020) , and New York (−29%) by Chen et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Comparable O 3 increases were registered by Chen et al. (2020) in NewYork (8%) and Las Vegas (17%), as well as by Connerton et al. (2020) in Paris, France (12%) and São Paulo, Brazil (30%).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“… Tobías et al., 2020 ; Mahato et al., 2020 ; Huang et al., 2020 ; Wang and Su, 2020 ; Rodríguez-Urrego and Rodríguez-Urrego, 2020 ; Agarwal et al., 2020 ) or against a mirrored period occurring during the previous year(s) (e.g. Chauhan and Singh, 2020 ; Chen et al., 2020 ; Sicard et al., 2020 ; Kerimray et al., 2020 ; Sharma et al., 2020 ; Shrestha et al., 2020 ; Singh and Chauhan, 2020 ; Shakoor et al., 2020 ; Connerton et al., 2020 ). The first approach is probably arguable, as the influence due to the changing meteorological conditions (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying road traffic impact on air quality in urban areas: A Covid19-induced lockdown analysis in Italy

Gualtieri

Brilli

Carotenuto

et al. 2020

Environmental Pollution

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Covid19-induced lockdown measures caused modifications in atmospheric pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. Urban road traffic was the most impacted, with 48–60% average reduction in Italy. This offered an unprecedented opportunity to assess how a prolonged (∼2 months) and remarkable abatement of traffic emissions impacted on urban air quality. Six out of the eight most populated cities in Italy with different climatic conditions were analysed: Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Palermo. The selected scenario (24/02/2020–30/04/2020) was compared to a meteorologically comparable scenario in 2019 (25/02/2019–02/05/2019). NO 2 , O 3 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 observations from 58 air quality and meteorological stations were used, while traffic mobility was derived from municipality-scale big data. NO 2 levels remarkably dropped over all urban areas (from −24.9% in Milan to −59.1% in Naples), to an extent roughly proportional but lower than traffic reduction. Conversely, O 3 concentrations remained unchanged or even increased (up to 13.7% in Palermo and 14.7% in Rome), likely because of the reduced O 3 titration triggered by lower NO emissions from vehicles, and lower NO x emissions over typical VOCs-limited environments such as urban areas, not compensated by comparable VOCs emissions reductions. PM 10 exhibited reductions up to 31.5% (Palermo) and increases up to 7.3% (Naples), while PM 2.5 showed reductions of ∼13–17% counterbalanced by increases up to ∼9%. Higher household heating usage (+16–19% in March), also driven by colder weather conditions than 2019 (−0.2 to −0.8 °C) may partly explain primary PM emissions increase, while an increase in agriculture activities may account for the NH 3 emissions increase leading to secondary aerosol formation. This study confirmed the complex nature of atmospheric pollution even when a major emission source is clearly isolated and controlled, and the need for consistent decarbonisation efforts across all emission sectors to really improve air quality and public health.

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“…One can hypothesize that less vigorous physical exertion or reduced physiological stress during a lockdown can result in fewer coronary plaque ruptures [15]. Furthermore, changes in the environment may play a role in a lower incidence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, since the COVID-19 lockdown has been associated with a dramatic decline in air pollution [16,17]. A reduced exposure to such air pollution due to less tra c and industrial activities during a lockdown, may lead to fewer cardiovascular events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency medical service evaluations for chest pain during the COVID-19 lockdown in Hollands-Midden, the Netherlands

Koning¹,

Boogers²,

Bosch³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Objective: To assess whether the COVID-19 lockdown might have had negative indirect health effects, as people seem to have been reluctant to seek medical care. Methods: All emergency medical service (EMS) rides for chest pain and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the Dutch region Hollands-Midden (population served >800.000) were evaluated during the initial 6 weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown and compared to the same period in 2019 in two cohorts. The primary end-point was the incidence of evaluated chest pain patients during the COVID-19 lockdown. In addition, the incidence of EMS evaluations of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and OHCA were assessed.Results: During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the EMS evaluated 927 chest pain patients (49% male, 62±17 years) as compared to 1041 patients (51% male, 63±17 years) in the same period in 2019 corresponding with a significant relative risk reduction of 0.88 (95% CI 0.81-0.96; P=0.006). Similarly, there was a significant reduction in the incidence of STEMI patients (RR 0.52; P=0.009) whereas the incidence of OHCA (RR 1.23; P=0.29) remained unchanged. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a significant decrease in patients with chest pain evaluated by the EMS paralleled by a reduction in STEMIs, while the incidence of OHCA remained similar. While the reason for the decrease in chest pain and STEMI consultations is not entirely clear, more attention should be drawn to the importance of contacting the EMS in case of suspected cardiac symptoms in possible future lockdowns.

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Air Quality during COVID-19 in Four Megacities: Lessons and Challenges for Public Health

Cited by 71 publications

References 24 publications

Association of environmental and meteorological factors on the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria, Mexico, and air quality during the lockdown

Association of environmental and meteorological factors on the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria, Mexico, and air quality during the lockdown

Quantifying road traffic impact on air quality in urban areas: A Covid19-induced lockdown analysis in Italy

Emergency medical service evaluations for chest pain during the COVID-19 lockdown in Hollands-Midden, the Netherlands

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