Short-term health effects of air quality changes during the COVID19 pandemic in the City of Novi Sad, the Republic of Serbia.
Int J Occup Med Environ Health
; 34(2): 223-237, 2021 May 27.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1168184
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The objective of this research is to determine the change in outdoor air quality during the COVID19 related state of emergency resulting in a lockdown and the potential health benefits for the urban population. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
During 53 days of the COVID19 related state of emergency with a lockdown (March 15-May 6, 2020) in the Republic of Serbia, as well as in the corresponding periods of 2018 and 2019, data on the daily sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ground-level ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations were analyzed. The total mortality data were analyzed to estimate the impact of the COVID19 related lockdown measures on the burden of health in a given population, attributed to the outdoor air quality in the City of Novi Sad, using AirQ+ software.RESULTS:
The average daily concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, PM10 and SO2 were reduced by 35%, 34%, 23% and 18%, respectively. In contrast, the average daily concentration of O3 increased by 8%, even if the primary precursors were reducing, thus representing a challenge for air quality management. In the City of Novi Sad, a reduction in the average daily PM2.5 concentration of 11.23 µg/m³ was significant, which resulted in a quantified number of avoided deaths.CONCLUSIONS:
Air pollution in the City of Novi Sad had a chance to be improved due to some preventive measures related to the infectious disease (the COVID19 related lockdown), which in turn was the mitigation measure to air pollution with positive public health effects. The confirmed positive effects of the improved air quality on public health could also include raising collective resistance to mass non-communicable and infectious diseases such as COVID19 and reducing economic costs. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2021;34(2)223-37.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Air Pollution
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Int J Occup Med Environ Health
Journal subject:
Occupational Medicine
/
Environmental Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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