National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, 35 Keyan Road, Zhunan Town, Miaoli, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 1;880:163275. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163275. Epub 2023 Apr 5.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided an unprecedented natural experiment, that allowed us to investigate the impacts of different restrictive measures on personal exposure to specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes and resulting health risks in the city. Ambient concentrations of the criteria air pollutants were also evaluated. Passive sampling for VOCs and aldehydes was conducted for graduate students and ambient air in Taipei, Taiwan, during the Level 3 warning (strict control measures) and Level 2 alert (loosened control measures) of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021-2022. Information on the daily activities of participants and on-road vehicle counts nearby the stationary sampling site during the sampling campaigns were recorded. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) with adjusted meteorological and seasonal variables were used to estimate the effects of control measures on average personal exposures to the selected air pollutants. Our results showed that ambient CO and NO concentrations in relation to on-road transportation emissions were significantly reduced, which led to an increase in ambient O concentrations. Exposure to specific VOCs (benzene, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), xylene, ethylbenzene, and 1,3-butadiene) associated with automobile emissions were remarkably decreased by ~40-80 % during the Level 3 warning, resulting in 42 % and 50 % reductions of total incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) and hazard index (HI), respectively, compared with the Level 2 alert. In contrast, the exposure concentration and calculated health risks in the selected population for formaldehyde increased by ~25 % on average during the Level 3 warning. Our study improves knowledge of the influence of a series of anti-COVID-19 measures on personal exposure to specific VOCs and aldehydes and its mitigations.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行提供了一个前所未有的自然实验，使我们能够研究不同限制措施对个人接触特定挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）和醛以及由此产生的健康风险的影响。还评估了环境空气污染物的浓度。在 2021-2022 年 COVID-19 大流行期间，台湾台北的研究生和环境空气进行了 VOCs 和醛的被动采样，当时处于 COVID-19 大流行的 3 级预警（严格控制措施）和 2 级警报（放宽控制措施）。记录了参与者的日常活动信息以及采样期间附近路边车辆计数信息。使用广义估计方程（GEE），对调整后的气象和季节性变量进行了分析，以评估控制措施对选定空气污染物的个人平均暴露量的影响。结果表明，与道路交通排放有关的环境 CO 和 NO 浓度显著降低，导致环境 O 浓度增加。与汽车排放有关的特定 VOCs（苯、甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）、二甲苯、乙苯和 1,3-丁二烯）的暴露浓度在 3 级预警期间显著降低了约 40-80%，与 2 级警报相比，总增量终生癌症风险（ILCR）和危害指数（HI）分别降低了 42%和 50%。相比之下，在 3 级预警期间，选定人群中甲醛的暴露浓度和计算出的健康风险平均增加了约 25%。本研究提高了对一系列抗 COVID-19 措施对个人接触特定 VOCs 和醛及其缓解的影响的认识。
