Impact of city lockdown on the air quality of COVID-19-hit of Wuhan city

A series of strict lockdown measures were implemented in the areas of China worst affected by coronavirus disease 19, including Wuhan, to prevent the disease spreading. The lockdown had a substantial environmental impact, because traffic pollution and industrial emissions are important factors affecting air quality and public health in the region. After the lockdown, the average monthly air quality index (AQI) in Wuhan was 59.7, which is 33.9% lower than that before the lockdown (January 23, 2020) and 47.5% lower than that during the corresponding period (113.6) from 2015 to 2019. Compared with the conditions before the lockdown, fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) decreased by 36.9% and remained the main pollutant. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) showed the largest decrease of approximately 53.3%, and ozone (O₃) increased by 116.6%. The proportions of fixed-source emissions and transported external-source emissions in this area increased. After the lockdown, O₃ pollution was highly negatively correlated with the NO₂ concentration, and the radiation increase caused by the PM₂.₅ reduction was not the main reason for the increase in O₃. This indicates that the generation of secondary pollutants is influenced by multiple factors and is not only governed by emission reduction.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140556
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972034078X
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00489697
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Lian, Xinbo
  • Huang, Jianping
  • Huang, Rujin
  • Liu, Chuwei
  • Wang, Lina
  • Zhang, Tinghan
• Publication Date: 2020-11-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 140556
• Serial:
  • Science of the Total Environment
  • Volume: 742
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0048-9697
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00489697

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality; Communicable diseases; COVID-19; Exhaust gases; Mobile sources; Nitrogen dioxide; Ozone; Particulates; Population density
• Geographic Terms: Wuhan (China)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01746595
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 23 2020 6:30PM