• Sci. Total Environ. · Oct 2020

    Changes in U.S. air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • Jesse D Berman and Keita Ebisu.
    • Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, United States of America. Electronic address: berma186@umn.edu.
    • Sci. Total Environ. 2020 Oct 15; 739: 139864.

    AbstractThe COVID-19 global pandemic has likely affected air quality due to extreme changes in human behavior. We assessed air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the continental United States from January 8th-April 21st in 2017-2020. We considered pollution during the COVID-19 period (March 13-April 21st) and the pre-COVID-19 period (January 8th-March 12th) with 2020 representing 'current' data and 2017-2019 representing 'historical' data. County-level pollution concentrations were compared between historical versus current periods, and counties were stratified by institution of early or late non-essential business closures. Statistically significant NO2 declines were observed during the current COVID-19 period compared to historical data: a 25.5% reduction with absolute decrease of 4.8 ppb. PM2.5 also showed decreases during the COVID-19 period, and the reduction is statistically significant in urban counties and counties from states instituting early non-essential business closures. Understanding how air pollution is affected during COVID-19 pandemic will provide important clues regarding health effects and control of emissions. Further investigation is warranted to link this finding with health implications.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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