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Hwang SH, Won JU, Park WM. Changes in total volatile organic compound concentration in Seoul subway stations before (2019) and after (2021) the COVID-19 outbreak. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20328. [PMID: 37990122 PMCID: PMC10663549 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46519-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major air pollutants often designated as specific hazardous or toxic. This study analyzed the trends in concentration changes and influencing factors of VOCs in underground subway stations in the Seoul Metro before (2019) and after (2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 506 samples were collected from 253 stations on lines 1-8 between May 2019 and September 2021. Total VOC concentrations in Seoul Metro increased after the COVID-19 pandemic 3.8 times over. The deeper the underground station platform, the greater the difference in the VOC concentrations between 2019 and 2021, which was positively related. Average VOC concentration was the highest (52.8 µg/m3) at a depth of 25-30 m and the lowest (23.9 µg/m3) at a depth of < 10 m in 2019. In conclusion, excessive disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased VOC concentrations in the Seoul Metro, especially in the deeper underground stations. Less frequent quarantine disinfection is recommended to improve air quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Ho Hwang
- Institute of Health & Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Jong-Uk Won
- Institute for Occupational Health, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
- Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Wha Me Park
- Institute for Occupational Health, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
- Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
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Ščevková J, Dušička J, Zahradníková E, Sepšiová R, Kováč J, Vašková Z. Impact of meteorological parameters and air pollutants on airborne concentration of Betula pollen and Bet v 1 allergen. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:95438-95448. [PMID: 37544949 PMCID: PMC10482788 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-29061-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
The intensity of birch pollen season is expressed by seasonal pollen integral (SPIn, the sum of the mean daily pollen concentration during the birch pollination period) and the amount of Bet v 1 allergen released per birch pollen grain expressed by pollen allergen potency (PAP). Betula pollen and Bet v 1 allergen were simultaneously measured in the air of Bratislava from 2019 to 2022 by using two Burkard traps (Hirst-type and cyclone) in order to evaluate the causes of the seasonal variation in the SPIn and PAP levels. The highest SPIn (19,975 pollen/m3) was observed in 2022 and the lowest one (1484 pollen/m3) in 2021. The average daily PAP level (4.0 pg Bet v 1/pollen) was highest in 2019 and lowest (2.5 pg Bet v 1/pollen) in 2020. We found that seasonal variation in SPIn was associated mainly with the changes in environmental conditions during the pre-season period, whereas the year-to-year variation in PAP levels was attributed to environmental conditions during both pre- and in-season periods. Our results indicate that rainy weather in June 2020 and cold overcast weather in January‒February 2021 resulted in low SPIn in 2021. On the other hand, dry weather in June 2021 and warm weather in January‒February 2022 resulted in high SPIn in 2022. The low average daily PAP level in 2020 was associated with (1) low levels of gaseous air pollutants in March, when the ripening of pollen takes place; (2) an earlier start of the birch main pollen season (MPS); and (3) dry weather during the MPS. On the other hand, high PAP level in 2019 was associated with higher levels of air pollutants in March and during the MPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana Ščevková
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Révová 39, 811 02, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Jozef Dušička
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Révová 39, 811 02, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Eva Zahradníková
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Révová 39, 811 02, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Regina Sepšiová
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Jozef Kováč
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, Mlynská Dolina, 842 48, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Zuzana Vašková
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Révová 39, 811 02, Bratislava, Slovakia.
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Masrani AS, Nik Husain NR, Musa KI. Five Decades of Research Progress in Air Pollution, Children’s Respiratory Health, and Emergency Department Visits: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cureus 2023; 15:e37151. [PMID: 37153234 PMCID: PMC10161285 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.37151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Air pollution is a global environmental health concern. Our study aims to examine the collective scientific impact of air pollution, children's respiratory health, and emergency department visits during the last five decades. Original articles, review papers, and conference proceedings in the English language published from 1972 to 2022 were obtained after a comprehensive search of the Scopus database using the terms air pollution, children, respiratory health, and emergency department visit. The Biblioshiny web application of the R software (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) was used to analyse the publication trend and identify the top authors and journals of the subject. The countries' collaborative network was mapped, and the authors' trending keywords were tracked using a thematic map. In total, 1,309 publications authored by 6,342 authors from 483 sources were retrieved. Three distinctive collaborative network clusters were observed, with the United States as the connecting central node. Among the 39 trending keywords identified, particulate matter had constantly been a motor theme with an emerging interest in individual pollutants, specific diseases, and time series analysis. In conclusion, political will is a strong driver for research on air pollution, children's respiratory health, and emergency department visits, which is further enhanced by technological advancement that increases the availability and accessibility of air pollution and patient data. The trend for future studies is time series analysis and research on the impact of individual air pollutants on specific respiratory disorders in children.
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Hasnain A, Sheng Y, Hashmi MZ, Bhatti UA, Ahmed Z, Zha Y. Assessing the ambient air quality patterns associated to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Yangtze River Delta: A random forest approach. CHEMOSPHERE 2023; 314:137638. [PMID: 36565760 PMCID: PMC9770002 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), first identified at the end of December 2019, has significant impacts on all aspects of human society. In this study, we aimed to assess the ambient air quality patterns associated to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region using a random forest (RF) model. To estimate the accuracy of the model, the cross-validation (CV), determination coefficient R2, root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) were used. The results demonstrate that the RF model achieved the best performance in the prediction of PM10 (R2 = 0.78, RMSE = 8.81 μg/m3), PM2.5 (R2 = 0.76, RMSE = 6.16 μg/m3), SO2 (R2 = 0.76, RMSE = 0.70 μg/m3), NO2 (R2 = 0.75, RMSE = 4.25 μg/m3), CO (R2 = 0.81, RMSE = 0.4 μg/m3) and O3 (R2 = 0.79, RMSE = 6.24 μg/m3) concentrations in the YRD region. Compared with the prior two years (2018-19), significant reductions were recorded in air pollutants, such as SO2 (-36.37%), followed by PM10 (-33.95%), PM2.5 (-32.86%), NO2 (-32.65%) and CO (-20.48%), while an increase in O3 was observed (6.70%) during the COVID-19 period (first phase). Moreover, the YRD experienced rising trends in the concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, NO2 and CO, while SO2 and O3 levels decreased in 2021-22 (second phase). These findings provide credible outcomes and encourage the efforts to mitigate air pollution problems in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Hasnain
- Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information, Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yehua Sheng
- Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information, Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | | | - Uzair Aslam Bhatti
- School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Zulkifl Ahmed
- Department of Civil Technology, Mir Chakar Khan Rind University of Technology, DG Khan 32200, Pakistan
| | - Yong Zha
- Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China; Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information, Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China
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Wong YJ, Shiu HY, Chang JHH, Ooi MCG, Li HH, Homma R, Shimizu Y, Chiueh PT, Maneechot L, Nik Sulaiman NM. Spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan air quality in the absence of a lockdown: Influence of urban public transportation use and meteorological conditions. JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION 2022; 365:132893. [PMID: 35781986 PMCID: PMC9234473 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 significantly improved the atmospheric environment for lockdown-imposed regions; however, scant evidence exists on its impacts on regions without lockdown. A novel research framework is proposed to evaluate the long-term monthly spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 on Taiwan air quality through different statistical analyses, including geostatistical analysis, change detection analysis and identification of nonattainment pollutant occurrence between the average mean air pollutant concentrations from 2018-2019 and 2020, considering both meteorological and public transportation impacts. Contrary to lockdown-imposed regions, insignificant or worsened air quality conditions were observed at the beginning of COVID-19, but a delayed improvement occurred after April in Taiwan. The annual mean concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO and O3 in 2020 were reduced by 24%, 18%, 15%, 9.6%, 7.4% and 1.3%, respectively (relative to 2018-2019), and the overall occurrence frequency of nonattainment air pollutants declined by over 30%. Backward stepwise regression models for each air pollutant were successfully constructed utilizing 12 meteorological parameters (R2 > 0.8 except for SO2) to simulate the meteorological normalized business-as-usual concentration. The hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory (HYSPLIT) model simulated the fate of air pollutants (e.g., local emissions or transboundary pollution) for anomalous months. The changes in different public transportation usage volumes (e.g., roadway, railway, air, and waterway) moderately reduced air pollution, particularly CO and NO2. Reduced public transportation use had a more significant impact than meteorology on air quality improvement in Taiwan, highlighting the importance of proper public transportation management for air pollution control and paving a new path for sustainable air quality management even in the absence of a lockdown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong Jie Wong
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 520-0811, Japan
| | - Huan-Yu Shiu
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 10617, Taiwan
| | - Jackson Hian-Hui Chang
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Central University, 32001, Taiwan
- Preparatory Center for Science and Technology (PPST), Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400, Malaysia
| | - Maggie Chel Gee Ooi
- Institute of Climate Change, National University of Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, 43600, Malaysia
| | - Hsueh-Hsun Li
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 10617, Taiwan
| | - Ryosuke Homma
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 520-0811, Japan
| | - Yoshihisa Shimizu
- Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 520-0811, Japan
| | - Pei-Te Chiueh
- Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, 10617, Taiwan
| | - Luksanaree Maneechot
- Environmental Engineering and Disaster Management Program, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Mahidol University Kanchanaburi Campus (MUKA), Kanchanaburi, 71150, Thailand
| | - Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Bhatti UA, Zeeshan Z, Nizamani MM, Bazai S, Yu Z, Yuan L. Assessing the change of ambient air quality patterns in Jiangsu Province of China pre-to post-COVID-19. CHEMOSPHERE 2022; 288:132569. [PMID: 34655644 PMCID: PMC8514250 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in early 2020, to effectively prevent the spread of the disease, major cities across China suspended work and production. While the rest of the world struggles to control COVID-19, China has managed to control the pandemic rapidly and effectively with strong lockdown policies. This study investigates the change in air pollution (focusing on the air quality index (AQI), six ambient air pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM10) and ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5)) patterns for three periods: pre-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2019), active COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2020) and post-COVID (from 1 January to May 30, 2021) in the Jiangsu province of China. Our findings reveal that the change in air pollution from pre-COVID to active COVID was greater than in previous years due to the government's lockdown policies. Post-COVID, air pollutant concentration is increasing. Mean change PM2.5 from pre-COVID to active COVID decreased by 18%; post-COVID it has only decreased by 2%. PM10 decreased by 19% from pre-COVID to active COVID, but post-COVID pollutant concentration has seen a 23% increase. Air pollutants show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases among which PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 show a strong correlation during active COVID-19 cases. Metrological factors such as minimum temperature, average temperature and humidity show a positive correlation with COVID-19 cases while maximum temperature, wind speed and air pressure show no strong positive correlation. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had numerous negative effects on human health and the global economy, the reduction in air pollution and significant improvement in ambient air quality likely had substantial short-term health benefits; the government must implement policies to control post-COVID environmental issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uzair Aslam Bhatti
- School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, China
| | | | - Mir Muhammad Nizamani
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Life and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Sibghatullah Bazai
- School of Natural and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, 0632, New Zealand; Department of Computer Engineering, BUITEMS, Quetta 87300, Pakistan
| | - Zhaoyuan Yu
- School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, China
| | - Linwang Yuan
- School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education, Nanjing Normal University, No. 1 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, China.
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