Scholarly record

LOCKDOWN IMPACT ON AMBIENT AIR QUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Vasilica Vasle, Cristian Petcu, Alina Mihaela Dima, Mihaela Ion

Abstract

One of the most important sources of ambient air pollution in the urban area is traffic, which generates two inorganic pollutants with severe effects on human health, namely nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3). The lockdown imposed in the context of COVID-19 pandemic dramatically decreased the level of traffic. In this respect, the paper aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on ambient air quality, by monitoring NO2 and O3 concentrations within the INCERC Bucharest Branch, part of NIRD URBAN-INCERC, located in urban area of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Monitoring of NO2 and O3 concentrations was performed in the following time intervals: the period before the onset of quarantine (February-March 2020), in the first month (March-April 2020) and in the second month of it (April-May 2020). The equipment for monitoring ambient air quality, model HAZ-SCANNER EPAS, manufacturer SKC - United Kingdom, was used. The monitoring method’s principle consists of the qualitative and quantitative identification of the inorganic compounds NO2 and O3 by the electrochemical method, and the recording in real time, at intervals of 1 minute, of their concentrations. Regarding NO2 concentration, the values before the lockdown were between 21.8 and 108.9 ?g/m3, with an average of 67.9 ?g/m3; in the first month of the lockdown, between 5.6 and 54.0 ?g/m3, with an average of 25.6 ?g/m3, and in the second month, between 8.8 and 78.4 ?g/m3, with an average of 29.2 ?g/m3. Ozone (O3) concentrations, varied before the start of lockdown between 25.8 and 86.0 ?g/m3, in the first month of it, between 4.2 and 46.6 ?g/m3, and in the second month, between 3.8 and 44.8 ?g/m3. The observed decrease of the NO2 concentrations during the two months of the lockdown, was between 62.3% and 57.0%, and for the O3 concentrations, between 56.7 and 61.1%. The findings are similar with those reported in other studies performed in major cities of Europe, for instance Barcelona or London, with reductions in NO2 concentrations by 70%, and 40%, respectively. The conclusions of the study emphasize that pollution reduction is possible, even if for short periods of time. But given that air pollution affects the health of millions of people every year, efforts must be made to find long-term solutions.

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