Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Food Sciences, Toxicology, and Legal Medicine, School of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Avenida Vicente Andres Estellés s/n, Burjassot, 46100 Valencia, Spain.
Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 26;18(5):2296. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052296.
The set of measures to contain the diffusion of COVID-19 instituted by the European governments gave an unparalleled opportunity to improve our understanding of the transport and industrial sectors' contribution to urban air pollution. The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of the lockdown measures on air quality and pollutant emissions in Valencia, Spain. For this reason, we determined if there was a significant difference in the concentration levels of different particulate matter (PM) sizes, PM, PM, and NO, NO, NO, and O between the period of restrictions in 2020 and the same period in 2019. Our findings indicated that PM pollutant levels during the lockdown period were significantly different from the same period of the previous year, even if there is variability in the different local areas. The highest variations reduction in the PM and PM levels were observed for the València Centre, València Avd Francia, and València Pista de Silla (all of the urban traffic type) in which there was a reduction of 58%-42%, 56%-53%, and 60%-41% respectively. Moreover, consistent with recent studies, we observed a significant reduction in nitric oxide levels in all the air monitoring stations. In all seven monitoring stations, it was observed, in 2020, NO, NO, and NO concentrations decreased by 48.5%-49.8%-46.2%, 62.1%-67.4%-45.7%, 37.4%-35.7%-35.3%, 60.7%-67.7%-47.1%, 65.5%-65.8%-63.5%, 60.0%-64.5%-41.3%, and 60.4%-61.6%-52.5%, respectively. Lastly, overall O levels decreased during the lockdown period, although this phenomenon was more closely related to weather conditions. Overall, no significant differences were observed between the meteorological conditions in 2019 and 2020. Our findings suggest that further studies on the effect of human activities on air quality are needed and encourage the adoption of a holistic approach to improve urban air quality.
欧洲政府为遏制 COVID-19 扩散而采取的一系列措施，为我们深入了解交通和工业部门对城市空气污染的贡献提供了前所未有的机会。本研究旨在评估封锁措施对西班牙巴伦西亚空气质量和污染物排放的影响。为此，我们确定了在 2020 年限制期间和 2019 年同期，不同颗粒物（PM）大小、PM、PM 和 NO、NO、NO 和 O 的浓度水平是否存在显著差异。我们的研究结果表明，封锁期间的 PM 污染物水平与前一年同期明显不同，即使不同的局部区域存在差异。在 València Centre、València Avd Francia 和 València Pista de Silla（均为城市交通类型）等地区，PM 和 PM 水平的最大降幅分别为 58%-42%、56%-53%和 60%-41%。此外，与最近的研究一致，我们观察到所有空气质量监测站的一氧化氮水平均显著降低。在所有七个监测站中，2020 年监测到 NO、NO 和 NO 浓度分别下降了 48.5%-49.8%-46.2%、62.1%-67.4%-45.7%、37.4%-35.7%-35.3%、60.7%-67.7%-47.1%、65.5%-65.8%-63.5%、60.0%-64.5%-41.3%和 60.4%-61.6%-52.5%。最后，尽管这一现象与天气条件更为密切相关，但在封锁期间，O 总水平下降。总体而言，2019 年和 2020 年的气象条件没有明显差异。我们的研究结果表明，需要进一步研究人类活动对空气质量的影响，并鼓励采取整体方法来改善城市空气质量。
