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The Effects of Pandemic Restrictions on Public Health—Improvements in Urban Air Quality

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  • Gabriela Cioca

    (Preclinical Department, Faculty of Medicine, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 550024 Sibiu, Romania)

  • Raluca Andreea Nerişanu

    (Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 550324 Sibiu, Romania)

Abstract

The present study aims to provide evidence on the effects of pandemic curtailment measures on public health, targeting the changes in breathable air quality, within urban areas. The analyzed period covers the full impact of lockdowns in Europe in 2020. We used everyday data for each analyzed pollutant, NO 2 , SO 2, CO, PM 2.5 and PM 10 , from urban monitoring stations that provided real-time concentrations (provided by Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, Environmental Protection Agency repository and European Environment Agency map services) and satellite data (provided by NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2). In the present study, the urban air quality was computed using a composite index that was further analyzed in comparison with pandemic restrictions. Descriptive statistics, charts and maps were used to visualize the data that covered the analyzed countries. Our results show that air pollution was reduced by 12% after lockdowns in European urban areas, with a 0.76 correlation between air pollution and pandemic restrictions. All air pollutants registered significant drops.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriela Cioca & Raluca Andreea Nerişanu, 2022. "The Effects of Pandemic Restrictions on Public Health—Improvements in Urban Air Quality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-23, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9022-:d:870811
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fabiana Fiasca & Mauro Minelli & Dominga Maio & Martina Minelli & Ilaria Vergallo & Stefano Necozione & Antonella Mattei, 2020. "Associations between COVID-19 Incidence Rates and the Exposure to PM2.5 and NO 2 : A Nationwide Observational Study in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Hanqin Tian & Rongting Xu & Josep G. Canadell & Rona L. Thompson & Wilfried Winiwarter & Parvadha Suntharalingam & Eric A. Davidson & Philippe Ciais & Robert B. Jackson & Greet Janssens-Maenhout & Mic, 2020. "A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7828), pages 248-256, October.
    3. Marcello Vultaggio & Daniela Varrica & Maria Grazia Alaimo, 2020. "Impact on Air Quality of the COVID-19 Lockdown in the Urban Area of Palermo (Italy)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-12, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rong Fu & Luze Xie & Tao Liu & Juan Huang & Binbin Zheng, 2022. "Chinese Economic Growth Projections Based on Mixed Data of Carbon Emissions under the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.

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