PM2.5 exposures increased for the majority of Indians and a third of the global population during COVID-19 lockdowns: a residential biomass burning and environmental justice perspective

In response to the emergence of COVID-19 during Spring 2020, many countries implemented nationwide lockdowns and mandatory stay-at-home orders, which resulted in historically clean ambient air quality. However, in many parts of the world, biomass burning for cooking is a common activity, and in India specifically, it has been implicated as the leading contributor to indoor and ambient PM2.5, and its activity was not stopped and likely increased during lockdowns. Here, we first estimate baseline and lockdown PM2.5 exposures specific to India using new, nationwide time-use survey data coupled with fine-scale PM2.5 estimates within various microenvironments. We then extend this framework to estimate the population globally that will have experienced higher PM2.5 exposures during lockdowns, due both to an increase in residential biomass burning activity as well as the entire day being spent in the more-polluted home environment for biomass fuel using households. Sixty five percent of Indians, the percent that uses biomass fuels for cooking, were exposed to higher PM2.5 levels during the lockdown compared to their modeled baseline exposures, with the average modeled exposure increasing by 13% (95% distribution: 8–26) (from 116 (82–157) to 131 (104–170) μg m−3). We further leverage this exposure framework to present India’s most comprehensive, to date, PM2.5 exposure disparity and environmental justice assessment;although women were still exposed to the highest levels of PM2.5 during the lockdown (from 135 (91–191) μg m−3 baseline to 147 (106–200) μg m−3 during the lockdown;8.8% (5–18) increase), the demographic groups that experienced the highest exposure increases were working-age men and school-age children, whose average modeled exposures increased by 24% (18–48) (from 88 (63–118) to 108 (94–139) μg m−3) and 18% (8–31) (from 98 (75–134) to 115 (98–145) μg m−3), respectively. Globally, we conservatively estimate that 34.5% (21–51) of the global population observed increased PM2.5 exposures during COVID-19 lockdowns, concentrated in low-income regions with high biomass usage. There have been a number of clean-cooking initiatives introduced in India and throughout the world to replace biomass cookstoves, but the finding that PM2.5 exposures increased for the majority of Indians and a third of the global population—driven largely by residential biomass burning for cooking—during a period of historically clean ambient air quality, re-emphasizes the urgent need to further address clean cooking interventions to reduce PM2.5 exposures and in turn improve health outcomes.

Epidemiology and diagnosis, environmental resources quality and socio-economic perspectives for COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a global issue of concern for public health, environment and socio-economic setup. This review addresses several aspects of epidemiology, and pathogenesis, environmental resource quality (air quality, hazardous waste management, and wastewater surveillance issues), and socio-economic issues worldwide. The accelerated research activity in the development of diagnostic kits for SARS-CoV-2 is in progress for the rapid sequencing of various strains of SARS-CoV-2. A notable reduction in air pollutants (NO2 and PM2.5) has been observed worldwide, but high air polluted cities showed intense mortalities in COVID-19 affected areas. The use of health safety equipment halted transportation, and work-from-home policy drastically impacted the quantity of solid and hazardous wastes management services. Wastewater appeared as another mode of enteric transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, wastewater-based surveillance could act as a mode of the data source to track the virus's community spread. The pandemic also had a substantial socio-economic impact (health budget, industrial manufacturing, job loss, and unemployment) and further aggravated the countries' economic burden.

Future liasing of the lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic: The dawn is expected at hand from the darkest hour.

The lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic has converted the world into new experimental laboratories, which may reveal temporal or spatial comparative analysis data. However, some startling information is gathered in terms of reduced premature mortality cases associated with air and water quality improvement, enhanced e-learning on a broader platform, work from home, and successful e-health. The decline in vehicular density on roads and congestion leads to reduced energy consumption and associated greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants emission. The lockdown has also been identified as a possible emergency measure to combat severe air pollution episodes. Similarly, industrial pollution has been recognized as one of the primary causes of water resource pollution and would, therefore, bring change in policy vis-à-vis groundwater pollution control. Our findings suggest that the results of successful e-learning and work from home would be a permanent shift from conventional modes in the near future due to a drastic reduction in socio-economic cost. Our critical analysis also highlights that with such temporary lockdown measures acute/chronic ill-effects of anthropogenic perturbations on planet earth can be effectively estimated through sociocultural, socioeconomical and socio-political/sociotechnological nexus.