The impact of stay-home policies during Coronavirus-19 pandemic on the chemical and toxicological characteristics of ambient PM2.5 in the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy

Altuwayjiri, Abdulmalik; Soleimanian, Ehsan; Moroni, Silvia; Palomba, Paolo; Borgini, Alessandro; Marco, Cinzia De; Ruprecht, Ario; Sioutas, Constantinos

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143582

Cited by 38 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 133 publications

(155 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Some studies have reported substantial decreases in PM 10 and/or PM 2.5 levels during lockdown periods ( Donzelli et al, 2021 ; Filonchyk and Peterson, 2020 ; Jianxin et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2020 ), while others point to moderate reductions ( Gualteri et al, 2020 ; Menut et al, 2020 ) or even increases in PM concentrations compared to pre-lockdown values ( Gualteri et al, 2020 ; Sbai et al, 2021 ). A possible reason for the limited impact of the lockdowns on PM levels in many cities of the world is that reduction in traffic emissions has been counterbalanced by increases in emissions from residential heating ( Altuwayjiri et al, 2021 ; Gualteri et al, 2020 ; Sbai et al, 2021 ). The fact that, in our study area, traffic is the main anthropogenic source of PM and biomass burning does not account for a significant fraction of the emissions during this period of the year ( Galindo et al, 2021 ), may explain the observed reductions in aerosol concentrations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Changes in the concentration and composition of urban aerosols during the COVID-19 lockdown

Clemente

Yubero

Nicolás

et al. 2022

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This work investigates the impact of COVID-19 restrictive measures on the mass concentrations of PM 1 and PM 10 , and their chemical components (water-soluble ions, organic and elemental carbon, and major and trace metals) at an urban site in the western Mediterranean. The evolution of gaseous pollutants (NO x , O 3 and some volatile organic compounds) was also analyzed. The concentrations measured during the lockdown in 2020 were compared to those obtained during the same period over the preceding five years. The average decrease in the levels of NO x and traffic-related volatile organic compounds was higher than 50 %, while O 3 concentrations did not exhibit significant variations during the study period. Our results show that temporal variations in PM 1 and PM 10 concentrations were strongly affected by the frequency of Saharan dust events. When these episodes were excluded from the analysis period, a 35 % decrease in PM 1 and PM 10 levels was observed. Traffic restrictions during the lockdown led to important reductions in the concentrations of elemental carbon and metals derived from road dust (e.g. Ca and Fe) and break wear (e.g. Cu). Regarding secondary inorganic aerosols, nitrate showed the largest reductions as a consequence of the drop in local emissions of NO x .

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Donzelli et al, 2020 ; Filonchyk et al, 2021 ; Goel et al, 2021 ; Viatte et al, 2021 ), to our knowledge, few studies regarding changes in PM composition during this period have been conducted (e.g. Altuwayjiri et al, 2021 ; Manchanda et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the concentration and composition of urban aerosols during the COVID-19 lockdown

Clemente

Yubero

Nicolás

et al. 2022

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Changes were less pronounced for particulate matter (PM) concentrations, with average reductions <30% for particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm or less (PM 10 ) [20,21], and even lower for particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM 2.5 ) [24]. The limited changes in the average PM concentration compared to the reductions in nitrogen oxides were attributed to the heterogeneous and more complex nature of the aerosol particles and, notably, to the enhanced secondary production as well as an increase in domestic heating and wood combustion based on measurements of larger light absorption Ångström exponents (AÅE) [26,27]. No decreases were found for ammonia (NH 3 ), owing to the fact that emissions from the agricultural sector persisted during the lockdown period [19,20,23,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Quality in the Italian Northwestern Alps during Year 2020: Assessment of the COVID-19 «Lockdown Effect» from Multi-Technique Observations and Models

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effect of COVID-19 confinement regulations on air quality in the northwestern Alps is assessed here based on measurements at five valley sites in different environmental contexts. Surface concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), together with a thorough microphysical (size), chemical, and optical (light absorption) aerosol characterisation, complemented by observations along the vertical column are considered. Even in the relatively pristine environment of the Alps, the «lockdown effect» is well discernible, both in the early confinement phase and in late 2020. The variations observed during the first confinement period in the city of Aosta (−61% NO, −43% NO2, +5% O3, +9% PM2.5, −12% PM10, relative to average 2015–2019 conditions) are attributed to the competing effects of air pollution lockdown-induced changes (−74%, −52%, +18%, −13%, −27%, relative to the counterfactual scenario for 2020 provided by a predictive statistical model trained on past measurements) and meteorology (+52%, +18%, −11%, +25%, +20%, relative to average conditions). These changes agree well with the ones obtained from a chemical transport model with modified emissions according to the restrictions. With regard to column-integrated quantities and vertical profiles, the NO2 column density decreases by >20% due to the lockdown, whereas tropospheric aerosols are mainly influenced by large-scale dynamics (transport of secondary particles from the Po basin and mineral dust from the Sahara desert and the Caspian Sea), except a shallow layer about 500 m thick close to the surface, possibly sensitive to curtailed emissions (especially exhaust and non-exhaust particles from road traffic and fugitive emissions from the industry).

show abstract

“…Altuwayjiri et al highlights the changes in chemical properties and oxidative potential PM 2.5 during the lockdown period in Italy. Both PM 2.5 and NO 2 showed a reduction during lockdown period due to a decrease in primary emission from road traffic [5]. Elshorbany et al used remote-sensing data to find reductions in the air pollutants during COVID-19 in USA and identified potential factors in the change of tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Change of Air-Quality Patterns in Hubei Province—A Pre- to Post-COVID-19 Analysis Using Path Analysis and Regression

Aamir

Bazai

et al. 2021

Atmosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mitigation measures and control strategies relating to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been widely applied in many countries to reduce the transmission of this pandemic disease. China was the first country to implement a strong lockdown policy to control COVID-19 when countries worldwide were struggling to manage COVID-19 cases. However, lockdown causes numerous changes to air-quality patterns due to the low amount of traffic and the decreased human mobility it results in. To study the impact of the strict control measures of the new COVID-19 epidemic on the air quality of Hubei in early 2020, the air-quality monitoring data of Hubei’s four cities, namely Huangshi, Yichang, Jingzhou, and Wuhan, from 2019 to 2021, specifically 1 January to 30 August, was examined to analyze the characteristics of the temporal and spatial distribution. All air-quality pollutants decreased during the active-COVID-19 period, with a maximum decrease of 26% observed in PM10, followed by 23% of PM2.5, and a minimum decrease of 5% observed in O3. Changes in air pollutants from 2017 to 2021 were also compared, and a decrease in all pollutants through to 2020 was found. The air-quality index (AQI) recorded an increase of 2% post-COVID-19, which shows that air quality will worsen in future, but it decreased by 22% during the active-COVID-19 period. A path analysis model was developed to further understand the relationship between the AQI and air-quality patterns. This path analysis shows a strong correlation between the AQI and PM10 and PM2.5, however its correlation with other air pollutants is weak. Regression analysis shows a similar pattern of there being a strong relationship between AQI and PM10 (r2 = 0.97) and PM2.5 (r2 = 0.93). Although the COVID-19 pandemic had numerous negative effects on human health and the global economy, it is likely that the reduction in air pollution and the significant improvement in ambient air quality due to lockdowns provided substantial short-term health benefits. The government must implement policies to control the environmental issues which are causing poor air quality in post-COVID-19.

show abstract

The impact of stay-home policies during Coronavirus-19 pandemic on the chemical and toxicological characteristics of ambient PM2.5 in the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy

Cited by 38 publications

References 133 publications

Changes in the concentration and composition of urban aerosols during the COVID-19 lockdown

Changes in the concentration and composition of urban aerosols during the COVID-19 lockdown

Air Quality in the Italian Northwestern Alps during Year 2020: Assessment of the COVID-19 «Lockdown Effect» from Multi-Technique Observations and Models

Spatiotemporal Change of Air-Quality Patterns in Hubei Province—A Pre- to Post-COVID-19 Analysis Using Path Analysis and Regression

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About