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Naqvi HR, Mutreja G, Hashim M, Singh A, Nawazuzzoha M, Naqvi DF, Siddiqui MA, Shakeel A, Chaudhary AA, Naqvi AR. Global assessment of tropospheric and ground air pollutants and its correlation with COVID-19. Atmos Pollut Res 2021; 12:101172. [PMID: 34421319 PMCID: PMC8372483 DOI: 10.1016/j.apr.2021.101172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The declaration of COVID-19 pandemic by the WHO initiated a series of lockdowns globally that varied in stringency and duration; however, the spatiotemporal effects of these lockdowns on air quality remain understudied. This study evaluates the global impact of lockdowns on air pollutants using tropospheric and ground-level indicators over a five-month period. Moreover, the relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 cases and mortalities was examined. Changes in the global tropospheric (NO2, aerosols, and O3) and ground-level (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3) pollutants were observed, and the maximum air quality improvement was observed immediately after lockdown. Except for a few countries, a decline in air pollutants correlated with a reduction in Land Surface Temperature (LST). Notably, regions with higher tropospheric NO2 and aerosol concentrations were also COVID-19 hotspots. Our analysis showed moderate positive correlation for NO2 with COVID-19 cases (R2 = 0.33; r = 0.57, P = 0.006) and mortalities (R2 = 0.40; r = 0.63, P = 0.015), while O3 showed a weak-moderate positive correlation with COVID-19 cases (R2 = 0.22; r = 0.47, P = 0.003) and mortalities (R2 = 0.12; r = 0.35, P = 0.012). However, PM2.5, and PM10 showed no significant correlation with either COVID-19 cases or mortality. This study reveals that humans living under adverse air pollution conditions are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- H R Naqvi
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - G Mutreja
- Environmental Systems Research Institute, R & D Center, New Delhi, India
| | - M Hashim
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - A Singh
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - M Nawazuzzoha
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - D F Naqvi
- ZiMetrics Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India
| | - M A Siddiqui
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - A Shakeel
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | - A A Chaudhary
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, 13317-7544, Saudi Arabia
| | - A R Naqvi
- Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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Naqvi HR, Datta M, Mutreja G, Siddiqui MA, Naqvi DF, Naqvi AR. Improved air quality and associated mortalities in India under COVID-19 lockdown. Environ Pollut 2021; 268:115691. [PMID: 33139097 PMCID: PMC7590817 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
India enforced stringent lockdown measures on March 24, 2020 to mitigate the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronovirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we examined the impact of lockdown on the air quality index (AQI) [including ambient particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and ammonia (NH3)] and tropospheric NO2 and O3 densities through Sentinel-5 satellite data approximately 1 d post-lockdown and one month pre-lockdown and post-lockdown. Our findings revealed a marked reduction in the ambient AQI (estimated mean reduction of 17.75% and 20.70%, respectively), tropospheric NO2 density, and land surface temperature (LST) during post-lockdown compared with the pre-lockdown period or corresponding months in 2019, except for a few sites with substantial coal mining and active power plants. We observed a modest increase in the O3 density post-lockdown, thereby indicating improved tropospheric air quality. As a favorable outcome of the COVID-19 lockdown, road accident-related mortalities declined by 72-folds. Cities with poor air quality correlate with higher COVID-19 cases and deaths (r = 0.504 and r = 0.590 for NO2; r = 0.744 and r = 0.435 for AQI). Conversely, low mortality was reported in cities with better air quality. These results show a correlation between the COVID-19 vulnerable regions and AQI hotspots, thereby suggesting that air pollution may exacerbate clinical manifestations of the disease. However, a prolonged lockdown may nullify the beneficial environmental outcomes by adversely affecting socioeconomic and health aspects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Raja Naqvi
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India.
| | - Manali Datta
- Department of Biochemistry, Amity University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
| | - Guneet Mutreja
- Environmental Systems Research Institute, R & D Center, New Delhi, India
| | - Masood Ahsan Siddiqui
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
| | | | - Afsar Raza Naqvi
- Department of Periodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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