School of Health Professions, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 8;19(6):3168. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063168.
Air pollution is responsible for a wide range of health effects in exposed populations. Variations in local air pollution can affect local population health outcomes. The strict regulations imposed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic ('lockdowns') resulted in a unique situation where human mobility was limited significantly, resulting in improved air quality in several major cities. The main goal of this study was to investigate if lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted air quality in Birmingham, Alabama-a city with a history of high air pollution levels-with a focus on PM (Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm) and NO (Nitrogen dioxide). Daily air pollutant and traffic data were obtained for the Birmingham Metropolitan Area for the period January to October 2020, and previous years. Mean PM and NO concentrations and traffic volumes during the official city/state lockdown period (24 March to 30 April 2020) were compared to pre- and post-lockdown means. The mean PM and NO concentrations during the lockdown did not significantly differ from that of the pre- or post-lockdown periods. However, NO significantly decreased even after the lockdown order was removed, with the mean decreasing significantly compared to pre-lockdown and lockdown periods. Both PM and NO annual means in 2020 were significantly lower than the annual means in 2019, indicating the occurrence of significant changes over the longer term that were not limited by defined lockdown periods. Traffic significantly increased after the lockdown order was removed but did not correlate with the two pollutants studied. Therefore, we conclude that the Stay at Home/lockdown regulations and other COVID-19 restrictions had an impact on the air quality of Birmingham Alabama; although these lockdown impacts varied for each pollutant and were not limited only by the official lockdown dates/periods.
空气污染对暴露人群的健康造成了广泛影响。局部空气污染的变化会影响当地人群的健康结果。在 COVID-19 大流行高峰期实施的严格规定（“封锁”）导致人类流动性显著受限，从而使几个主要城市的空气质量得到改善。本研究的主要目的是调查 COVID-19 大流行期间的封锁是否显著影响了阿拉巴马州伯明翰市的空气质量，该市历史上空气污染水平较高，重点关注 PM（空气动力学直径≤2.5 µm 的颗粒物）和 NO（二氧化氮）。在 2020 年 1 月至 10 月期间以及前几年，获得了伯明翰大都市区的每日空气污染物和交通数据。将官方城市/州封锁期间（2020 年 3 月 24 日至 4 月 30 日）的 PM 和 NO 浓度及交通量均值与封锁前和封锁后的均值进行比较。封锁期间的 PM 和 NO 浓度均值与封锁前和封锁后的均值没有显著差异。然而，即使在取消封锁命令后，NO 浓度仍显著下降，与封锁前和封锁期间的均值相比，降幅显著。2020 年 PM 和 NO 的年平均值均明显低于 2019 年的年平均值，这表明在较长时间内发生了显著变化，而不仅仅局限于定义的封锁期。封锁命令取消后，交通量显著增加，但与研究的两种污染物无关。因此，我们得出结论，居家令/封锁规定和其他 COVID-19 限制措施对阿拉巴马州伯明翰的空气质量产生了影响；尽管这些封锁对每个污染物的影响不同，并且不仅限于官方封锁日期/期间。
