Air Quality during COVID-19 in Four Megacities: Lessons and Challenges for Public Health.

ABSTRACT: The study described in this manuscript analyzed the effects of quarantine and social distancing policies implemented due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on air pollution levels in four western megacities: São Paulo in Brazil; Paris in France; and Los Angeles and New York in the United States. The study investigated the levels of four air pollutants-Carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Fine Particulate (PM2.5) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)-during the month of March 2020, compared to 2015-2019, in the urban air of these metropolitan areas, controlling for meteorological variables. Results indicated reductions in the levels of PM2.5, CO and NO2, with reductions of the latter two showing statistical significance. In contrast, tropospheric ozone levels increased, except in Los Ang

SUBMITTER: Connerton P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7400368 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature