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Spatial and temporal characteristics of air pollutants and their health effects in China during 2019-2020.
Lei, Ruoyuan; Nie, Dongyang; Zhang, Shumeng; Yu, Wanning; Ge, Xinlei; Song, Ninghui.
  • Lei R; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CIC-AEET), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanji
  • Nie D; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, South University of Science and Technology of China, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
  • Zhang S; Reading Academy, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
  • Yu W; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CIC-AEET), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanji
  • Ge X; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CIC-AEET), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanji
  • Song N; Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, 210042, China. Electronic address: snh@nines.org.
J Environ Manage ; 317: 115460, 2022 Sep 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1867356
ABSTRACT
This work presents the temporal and spatial characteristics of the major air pollutants and their associated health risks in China from 2019 to 2020, by using the monitoring data from 367 cities. The annual average PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO, and O3 concentrations decreased by 10.9%, 13.2%, 9.3%, 10.1%, 9.4%, and 5.5% from 2019 to 2020. National average PM2.5 concentration in 2020 met the standard of 35 µg/m3, and that of O3 decreased from 2019. COVID-19 lockdown affected NO2 level dramatically, yet influences on PM2.5 and O3 were less clear-cut. Positive correlations between PM2.5 and O3 were found, even in winter in all five key regions, e.g., Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ), FenWei Plain (FWP), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), Pearl River Delta (PRD) and Chengdu-Chongqing Region (CCR), indicating importance of secondary production for both PM2.5 and O3. Large seasonal variability of PM2.5-SO2 correlation indicates a varying role of SO2 to PM2.5 pollution in different seasons; and generally weak correlations in winter between PM2.5 and NO2 or SO2 reveal the complexity of secondary formation processes to PM2.5 pollution in winter. Multilinear regression analysis between PM2.5 and SO2, NO2 and CO demonstrates that PM2.5 is more sensitive to the change of NO2 than SO2 in JJJ, FWP, PRD and CCR, suggesting a priority of NOx emission control for future PM2.5 reduction. Furthermore, the new World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO AQG2021) were adopted to calculate the excess health risks (ER) as well as the health-risk based air quality index (HAQIWHO) of the pollutants. Such assessment points out the severity of air pollution associated health risks under strict standards 40.0% of days had HAQIWHO>100, while only 14.4% days had AQI>100. PM2.5 ER was generally larger than O3 ER, but O3 ER in low PM2.5 region (PRD) and during summer became more serious. Notably, NO2 ER became even more important than PM2.5 due to its strict limit of WHO AQG2021. Overall, our results highlight the increasing importance of O3 in both air quality evaluation and health risk assessment, and the importance of coordinated mitigation of multiple pollutants (mainly PM2.5, O3 and NO2) in protecting the public health.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Air Pollutants / Air Pollution / COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: J Environ Manage Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Air Pollutants / Air Pollution / COVID-19 Type of study: Experimental Studies / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: J Environ Manage Year: 2022 Document Type: Article