Assessment of air quality before and during the COVID-19 and its potential health impacts in an arid oasis city: Urumqi, China

Yaxin Sun; Tayierjiang Aishan; Ümüt Halik; Florian Betz; Remila Rezhake

doi:10.1007/s00477-022-02338-4

Assessment of air quality before and during the COVID-19 and its potential health impacts in an arid oasis city: Urumqi, China

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess. 2023;37(4):1265-1279. doi: 10.1007/s00477-022-02338-4. Epub 2022 Nov 18.

Authors

Yaxin Sun^{1

2}, Tayierjiang Aishan^{1

2}, Ümüt Halik^{1

2}, Florian Betz³, Remila Rezhake⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046 Xinjiang China.
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, Urumqi, 830046 Xinjiang China.
³ Faculty of Mathematics and Geography, University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, Ostenstraße 14, 85071 Eichstaett, Germany.
⁴ Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830017 Xinjiang China.

Abstract

As a key node city of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" Urumqi has been listed as one of the ten most polluted cities in the world, posing a serious threat to the urban environment and residents' health. This study analyzed the air quality before and during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and its potential health effects based on the data of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂, CO, and O₃_8h levels from 10 air quality monitoring stations in Urumqi from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2021. As per the results, the concentrations of the air pollutants PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂, CO, and O₃_8h in Urumqi from 2017 to 2021 showed a cyclical trend, and the implementation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures could effectively reduce the concentration(ρ) of air pollutants. The mean value of ρ(PM_2.5) decreased from 2017 to 2021, whereas ρ(O₃_8h) showed a waveform change trend (increased in 2017-2018, decreased in 2018-2020, and increased after 2020). Meanwhile, the maximum annual average values of ρ(PM_2.5) and ρ(O₃_8h) for the six monitoring stations during 2017-2021 occurred at sites S2 (74.37 µg m^-3) and S6 (91.80 µg m^-3), respectively; rapid industrialization had a greater impact on PM_2.5 and O₃_8h concentrations compared to commercial and residential areas. In addition, the air quality index data series can characterize the fluctuation trend of PM_2.5. The high pollution levels (Class IV and V) of the air pollutants PM_2.5 and O₃_8h in Urumqi have been decreasing annually, and good days can account for 80-95% of the total number of days in the year, indicating that the number of days with a potential threat to residents' health is gradually decreasing. Therefore, more attention should be paid in controlling and managing air pollution in Urumqi.

Keywords: Air pollution; COVID-19; Human health; Oasis city; PM2.5; Urumqi.

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