Assessing the change of ambient air quality patterns in Jiangsu Province of China pre-to post-COVID-19

Uzair Aslam Bhatti; Zeeshan Zeeshan; Mir Muhammad Nizamani; Sibghatullah Bazai; Zhaoyuan Yu; Linwang Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132569

Assessing the change of ambient air quality patterns in Jiangsu Province of China pre-to post-COVID-19

Chemosphere. 2022 Feb;288(Pt 2):132569. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132569. Epub 2021 Oct 14.

Authors

Uzair Aslam Bhatti¹, Zeeshan Zeeshan², Mir Muhammad Nizamani³, Sibghatullah Bazai⁴, Zhaoyuan Yu¹, Linwang Yuan⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, China.
² Kymeta Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA.
³ Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Life and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China.
⁴ School of Natural and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, 0632, New Zealand; Department of Computer Engineering, BUITEMS, Quetta 87300, Pakistan.
⁵ School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: 09142@njnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in early 2020, to effectively prevent the spread of the disease, major cities across China suspended work and production. While the rest of the world struggles to control COVID-19, China has managed to control the pandemic rapidly and effectively with strong lockdown policies. This study investigates the change in air pollution (focusing on the air quality index (AQI), six ambient air pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM₁₀) and ≤2.5 μm (PM_2.5)) patterns for three periods: pre-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2019), active COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2020) and post-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2021) in the Jiangsu province of China. Our findings reveal that the change in air pollution from pre-COVID to active COVID was greater than in previous years due to the government's lockdown policies. Post-COVID, air pollutant concentration is increasing. Mean change PM_2.5 from pre-COVID to active COVID decreased by 18%; post-COVID it has only decreased by 2%. PM₁₀ decreased by 19% from pre-COVID to active COVID, but post-COVID pollutant concentration has seen a 23% increase. Air pollutants show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases among which PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and NO₂ show a strong correlation during active COVID-19 cases. Metrological factors such as minimum temperature, average temperature and humidity show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases while maximum temperature, wind speed and air pressure show no strong positive correlation. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had numerous negative effects on human health and the global economy, the reduction in air pollution and significant improvement in ambient air quality likely had substantial short-term health benefits; the government must implement policies to control post-COVID environmental issues.

Keywords: Air pollution; COVID-19; China; Particulate matter.

MeSH terms

Air Pollution*
COVID-19*
China
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2