Decrease in ambient volatile organic compounds during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the Pearl River Delta region, south China.

ABSTRACT: During the COVID-19 lockdown, ambient ozone levels are widely reported to show much smaller decreases or even dramatical increases under substantially reduced precursor NOx levels, yet changes in ambient precursor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been scarcely reported during the COVID-19 lockdown, which is an opportunity to examine the impacts of dramatically changing anthropogenic emissions on ambient VOC levels in megacities where ozone formation is largely VOC-limited. In this study, ambient VOCs were monitored online at an urban site in Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. The average total mixing ratios of VOCs became 19.1% lower during the lockdown than before, and those of alkanes, alkenes and aromatics decreased by 19.0%,

SUBMITTER: Pei C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8821021 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature