Changes in healthy effects and economic burden of PM2.5 in Beijing after COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 lockdown had a positive control effect on urban air quality. However, this effect remains uncertain after the epidemic enters regular management, and furthermore, only limited data are available regarding urban PM 2.5 (aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5μm) under the impact of the epidemic. We used daily ambient PM 2.5 concentration data in Beijing to compare and analyze the changes in urban PM 2.5 concentrations before and after the COVID-19 epidemic and to estimate the healthy effects and economic burden associated with PM 2.5 before and after the epidemic. The study found that COVID-19 has a significant impact on the urban environmental PM 2.5 concentration, which is manifested by the decrease in the PM 2.5 concentration in Beijing during the epidemic by 27.8%. Exposure-response models estimated 56.443 (95% CI: 43.084-69.893) thousand people die prematurely in Beijing during the COVID-19 epidemic attributed to long-term PM 2.5 exposure, with a 13.3% decrease in the number of premature deaths year-on-year. The total healthy economic losses attributable to PM 2.5 in Beijing during the COVID-19 epidemic were 35.76 (95% CI: 28.41-42.44) billion yuan, with a per capita loss of 816.8 yuan. Strict control measures throughout the COVID-19 epidemic had a positive impact on air quality in Beijing, with a decrease in both premature deaths and economic healthy losses attributable to fine particles. This paper helps to enrich and expand the research on the impact of COVID-19 on the urban environment and provides a basis for formulating policies related to air quality improvement in the post-epidemic era.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on air particulate matter exposure and heart attacks: a 5-year retrospective cohort study in Taiwan (2017–2021)

“…There is little information about the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on regions that were not under lockdown, even though it greatly improved the air quality in the areas under lockdown provisions (17)(18)(19). A recent research framework is proposed to evaluate the long-term monthly spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan air quality through geostatistical analysis, change detection analysis, and identification of nonattainment pollutant occurrence between the average mean air pollutant concentrations from 2018 to 2019 and 2020.…”