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Romero-Mesones C, de Homdedeu M, Soler-Segovia D, Gómez-Ollés C, Espejo-Castellanos D, Ojanguren I, Saez-Gimenez B, Cruz MJ, Munoz X. The Impact of the Reduction in Environmental Pollution during COVID-19 Lockdown on Healthy Individuals. TOXICS 2024; 12:492. [PMID: 39058144 PMCID: PMC11280586 DOI: 10.3390/toxics12070492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2024] [Revised: 07/01/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024]
Abstract
The lockdown imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic produced a historic fall in air pollution in cities like Barcelona. This exceptional situation offered a unique context in which to examine the effects of air pollutants on human health. The present study aims to determine and compare the oxidative stress biomarkers Th1/Th2 and inflammatory-related cytokines in healthy individuals first during lockdown and then six months after the easing of the restrictions on mobility. A prospective study of a representative sample of 58 healthy, non-smoking adults was carried out. During lockdown and six months post-easing of restrictions, blood samples were drawn to measure the percentage of eosinophils, levels of Th1/Th2 and inflammatory-related cytokines assessed by a multiplex assay (BioRad Laboratories S.A., Marnes-la-Coquette, France), and levels of 8-isoprostane, glutathione peroxidase activity, and myeloperoxidase (Cayman Chemical Co., Ann Arbor, MI, USA), to assess their value as biomarkers of oxidative stress. Six months after easing mobility restrictions, increases in the levels of 8-isoprostane (p < 0.0001), IL-1β (p = 0.0013), IL-1ra (p = 0.0110), IL-4 (p < 0.0001), IL-13 (p < 0.0001), G-CSF (p = 0.0007), and CCL3 (p < 0.0001) were recorded, along with reductions in glutathione peroxidase (p < 0.0001), IFN-γ (p = 0.0145), TNFα (p < 0.0001), IP-10 (p < 0.0001), IL-2 (p < 0.0001), IL-7 (p < 0.0001), basic FGF (p < 0.0001), CCL4 (p < 0.0001), and CCL5 (p < 0.0001). No significant differences were observed in the rest of the biomarkers analyzed. The reduction in environmental pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown significantly lowered the levels of oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and Th2-related cytokines in healthy people.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Romero-Mesones
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Miquel de Homdedeu
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Soler-Segovia
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos Gómez-Ollés
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Espejo-Castellanos
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Inigo Ojanguren
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Berta Saez-Gimenez
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
| | - María-Jesús Cruz
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Munoz
- Pulmonology Service, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (C.R.-M.); (M.d.H.); (D.S.-S.); (C.G.-O.); (D.E.-C.); (I.O.); (B.S.-G.); (X.M.)
- CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CibeRes), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Medicine Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
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Basha G, Ratnam MV, Viswanadhapalli Y, Chakraborty R, Babu SR, Kishore P. Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the atmospheric boundary layer and instability process over Indian region. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 832:154995. [PMID: 35378180 PMCID: PMC8975591 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The abrupt reduction in the human activities during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented changes in the background atmospheric conditions. Several studies reported the anthropogenic and air quality changes observed during the lockdown. However, no attempts are made to investigate the lockdown effects on the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) and background instability processes. In this study, we assess the lockdown impacts on the ABL altitude and instability parameters (Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and Convective Inhibition Energy (CINE)) using WRF model simulations. Results showed a unique footprint of COVID-19 lockdown in all these parameters. Increase in the visibility, surface temperature and wind speed and decrease in relative humidity during the lockdown is noticed. However, these responses are not uniform throughout India and are significant in the inland compared to the coastal regions. The spatial variation of temperature (wind speed) and relative humidity shows an increase and decrease over the Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP) and central parts of India by 20% (100%) and 40%, respectively. Increase (80%) in the ABL altitude is larger over the IGP and central parts of India during lockdown of 2020 compared to similar time period in 2015-2019. This increase is attributed to the stronger insolation due to absence of anthropogenic activity and other background conditions. At the same time, CAPE decreased by 98% in the IGP and central parts of India, where it shows an increase in other parts of India. A prominent strengthening of CINE in the IGP and a weakening elsewhere is also noticed. These changes in CAPE and CINE are mainly attributed to the dearth of saturation in lower troposphere levels, which prevented the development of strong adiabatic ascent during the lockdown. These results provide a comprehensive observation and model-based insight for lockdown induced changes in the meteorological and thermo-dynamical parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghouse Basha
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Gadanki 517112, India.
| | - M Venkat Ratnam
- National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Gadanki 517112, India
| | | | - Rohit Chakraborty
- Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, India
| | - Saginela Ravindra Babu
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Central University, Taoyuan City 32001, Taiwan
| | - P Kishore
- Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
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