Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China
Abstract The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has hugely impacted the world and becomes a global public threat. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, human activities are largely restricted in China in early February, 2020. The influence of strict COVID-19 control policies on air quality a...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.05.0224 |
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| _version_ | 1850190717769482240 |
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| author | Qi-Xiang Chen Chun-Lin Huang Yuan Yuan He-Ping Tan |
| author_facet | Qi-Xiang Chen Chun-Lin Huang Yuan Yuan He-Ping Tan |
| author_sort | Qi-Xiang Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has hugely impacted the world and becomes a global public threat. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, human activities are largely restricted in China in early February, 2020. The influence of strict COVID-19 control policies on air quality and the potential influence of particulate matter concentration on COVID-19 infection in China are of great interest. This study analyzes the concentrations of six major air pollutants in 366 urban areas across mainland China during January 1 to April 30 in 2017–2020. Results show that strict COVID-19 control policies have significantly improved the air quality in many provinces. Compared to 2019, national mean concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2 and CO in 2020 decrease by 14%, 15%, 12%, 16% and 12%, respectively, while the concentration of O3 increases by 9%. Generally, the diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations remains unchanged during COVID-19 and their concentrations are high in the morning and evening while low in the afternoon. Correlation analysis shows that daily COVID-19 infections are positively correlated with PM2.5 concentration in many provinces, indicating a potential risk of aerosol transmission in high PM2.5 environment. Thus it is suggested to stay at home in highly polluted days and go out in the afternoon to reduce the risk of infection due to aerosol transmission. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3fe9cecc77374ac487f0fc9ef10962dd |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1680-8584 2071-1409 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aerosol and Air Quality Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-3fe9cecc77374ac487f0fc9ef10962dd2025-08-20T02:15:11ZengSpringerAerosol and Air Quality Research1680-85842071-14092020-06-012071541155110.4209/aaqr.2020.05.0224Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland ChinaQi-Xiang Chen0Chun-Lin Huang1Yuan Yuan2He-Ping Tan3School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of TechnologySchool of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of TechnologySchool of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of TechnologySchool of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of TechnologyAbstract The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has hugely impacted the world and becomes a global public threat. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, human activities are largely restricted in China in early February, 2020. The influence of strict COVID-19 control policies on air quality and the potential influence of particulate matter concentration on COVID-19 infection in China are of great interest. This study analyzes the concentrations of six major air pollutants in 366 urban areas across mainland China during January 1 to April 30 in 2017–2020. Results show that strict COVID-19 control policies have significantly improved the air quality in many provinces. Compared to 2019, national mean concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2 and CO in 2020 decrease by 14%, 15%, 12%, 16% and 12%, respectively, while the concentration of O3 increases by 9%. Generally, the diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations remains unchanged during COVID-19 and their concentrations are high in the morning and evening while low in the afternoon. Correlation analysis shows that daily COVID-19 infections are positively correlated with PM2.5 concentration in many provinces, indicating a potential risk of aerosol transmission in high PM2.5 environment. Thus it is suggested to stay at home in highly polluted days and go out in the afternoon to reduce the risk of infection due to aerosol transmission.https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.05.0224COVID-19Air qualityPM2.5China |
| spellingShingle | Qi-Xiang Chen Chun-Lin Huang Yuan Yuan He-Ping Tan Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China Aerosol and Air Quality Research COVID-19 Air quality PM2.5 China |
| title | Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China |
| title_full | Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China |
| title_fullStr | Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China |
| title_short | Influence of COVID-19 Event on Air Quality and their Association in Mainland China |
| title_sort | influence of covid 19 event on air quality and their association in mainland china |
| topic | COVID-19 Air quality PM2.5 China |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.05.0224 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT qixiangchen influenceofcovid19eventonairqualityandtheirassociationinmainlandchina AT chunlinhuang influenceofcovid19eventonairqualityandtheirassociationinmainlandchina AT yuanyuan influenceofcovid19eventonairqualityandtheirassociationinmainlandchina AT hepingtan influenceofcovid19eventonairqualityandtheirassociationinmainlandchina |