Ju, Min Jae; Oh, Jaehyun; Choi, Yoon-Hyeong
The Science of the total environment
2020Aug ; 750 ( 32 ) :141521.
PMID : 32829258
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Ju, Min Jae -
Oh, Jaehyun -
Choi, Yoon-Hyeong -
ABSTRACT
In order to control the spread of COVID-19, social distancing measures were implemented in many countries. This study investigated changes in air pollution during the social distancing after the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea. Ambient PM(2.5), PM(10), NO(2), and CO that are particularly related to industrial activities and traffic were reduced during the social distancing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In March 2020, immediately after social distancing, mean levels of PM(2.5), PM(10), NO(2), and CO decreased nationwide from last year's mean levels by 16.98?μg/m(3), 21.61?μg/m(3), 4.16?ppb, and 0.09?ppm, respectively (p-value for the year-to-year difference?<0.001, =0.001, =0.008, <0.001), a decrease by 45.45%, 35.56%, 20.41%, and 17.33%, respectively. Changes in ambient O(3) or SO(2) were not observed to be attributable to social distancing. Our findings, that such effort for a short period of time resulted in a significant reduction in air pollution, may point toward reducing air pollution as a public health problem in a more sustainable post-COVID-19 world. CI - Copyright ??2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keyword
Air pollution; COVID-19; Particulate matter; Social distancing
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