COVID-19 mitigation measures and nitrogen dioxide - A quasi-experimental study of air quality in Munich, Germany.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bavarian State government announced several COVID-19 mitigation measures beginning on March 16, 2020, which likely led to a reduction in traffic and a subsequent improvement in air quality. In this study, we evaluated the short-term effect of COVID-19 mitigation measures on NO₂ concentrations in Munich, Germany.

Methods

We applied two quasi-experimental approaches, a controlled interrupted time-series (c-ITS) approach and a synthetic control (SC) approach. Each approach compared changes occurring in 2020 to changes occurring in 2014-2019, and accounted for weather-related and other potential confounders. We hypothesized that the largest reductions in NO₂ concentrations would be observed at traffic sit

SUBMITTER: Burns J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7680620 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature