Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China
Many studies in China investigated how the lockdown following the coronavirus disease 2019 substantially affected air quality; however, few were conducted in Northeastern China. Here, the changes in six criteria air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2),...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://bme.vgtu.lt/index.php/JEELM/article/view/19472 |
| _version_ | 1827825046347841536 |
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| author | Xueyan Wang Yuqing Wang Yiran Zhao Meijin Tian Xinmeng Wu Yongzhen Zhang Feng Gao Junjiao Sun Xiaoqing Wei Xiuying Yang Xiaohan Qu |
| author_facet | Xueyan Wang Yuqing Wang Yiran Zhao Meijin Tian Xinmeng Wu Yongzhen Zhang Feng Gao Junjiao Sun Xiaoqing Wei Xiuying Yang Xiaohan Qu |
| author_sort | Xueyan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Many studies in China investigated how the lockdown following the coronavirus disease 2019 substantially affected air quality; however, few were conducted in Northeastern China. Here, the changes in six criteria air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone (O3), were investigated in Shenyang from January to May 2015–2020. Compared with the pre-lockdown, the mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO during the lockdown decreased by 40.3% to 48.6%, indicating a positive impact of lockdown policies on reducing pollutant emissions. The responses of PM2.5, PM10, and CO to the lockdown measures in downtown areas were more sensitive than in the suburbs. However, the O3 concentration showed the opposite trend, attributed to the drop in NOx and particulate matters. Compared to the same period in 2015–2019, the proportion of days with good air quality increased from 63.2% to 77.2% during the lockdown and Shenyang experienced no severe pollution. Our results suggest that reducing human activities can improve air quality; however, coordinated control policies of O3, PM2.5, and NO2 are imperative.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:36:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac3a6f4ca69449f985373d7f7eca879c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1648-6897 1822-4199 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:36:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius Gediminas Technical University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac3a6f4ca69449f985373d7f7eca879c2023-09-04T15:20:42ZengVilnius Gediminas Technical UniversityJournal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management1648-68971822-41992023-09-0131310.3846/jeelm.2023.19472Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern ChinaXueyan Wang0Yuqing Wang1Yiran Zhao2Meijin Tian3Xinmeng Wu4Yongzhen Zhang5Feng Gao6Junjiao Sun7Xiaoqing Wei8Xiuying Yang9Xiaohan Qu10School of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, ChinaSchool of Energy and Water Resources, Shenyang Institute of Technology, Fushun, China Many studies in China investigated how the lockdown following the coronavirus disease 2019 substantially affected air quality; however, few were conducted in Northeastern China. Here, the changes in six criteria air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and ozone (O3), were investigated in Shenyang from January to May 2015–2020. Compared with the pre-lockdown, the mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO during the lockdown decreased by 40.3% to 48.6%, indicating a positive impact of lockdown policies on reducing pollutant emissions. The responses of PM2.5, PM10, and CO to the lockdown measures in downtown areas were more sensitive than in the suburbs. However, the O3 concentration showed the opposite trend, attributed to the drop in NOx and particulate matters. Compared to the same period in 2015–2019, the proportion of days with good air quality increased from 63.2% to 77.2% during the lockdown and Shenyang experienced no severe pollution. Our results suggest that reducing human activities can improve air quality; however, coordinated control policies of O3, PM2.5, and NO2 are imperative. https://bme.vgtu.lt/index.php/JEELM/article/view/19472novel coronavirusair quality indexspatiotemporal distributionlockdownparticulate matternitrogen dioxide |
| spellingShingle | Xueyan Wang Yuqing Wang Yiran Zhao Meijin Tian Xinmeng Wu Yongzhen Zhang Feng Gao Junjiao Sun Xiaoqing Wei Xiuying Yang Xiaohan Qu Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management novel coronavirus air quality index spatiotemporal distribution lockdown particulate matter nitrogen dioxide |
| title | Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China |
| title_full | Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China |
| title_short | Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in Northeastern China |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 lockdown on air pollution in an industrial city in northeastern china |
| topic | novel coronavirus air quality index spatiotemporal distribution lockdown particulate matter nitrogen dioxide |
| url | https://bme.vgtu.lt/index.php/JEELM/article/view/19472 |
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