TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigation of PM2.5 pollution during COVID-19 pandemic in Guangzhou, China
AU - Wen, Luyao
AU - Yang, Chun
AU - Liao, Xiaoliang
AU - Zhang, Yanhao
AU - Chai, Xuyang
AU - Gao, Wenjun
AU - Guo, Shulin
AU - Bi, Yinglei
AU - Tsang, Suk Ying
AU - Chen, Zhi Feng
AU - Qi, Zenghua
AU - Cai, Zongwei
N1 - This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21806025 and 91843301), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2019A1515011294), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2020B1212030008), the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2019YFC1804604).
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about various environmental issues, including PM2.5 pollution. Here, PM2.5 pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was traced and analyzed to clarify the sources and factors influencing PM2.5 in Guangzhou, with an emphasis on heavy pollution. The lockdown led to large reductions in industrial and traffic emissions, which significantly reduced PM2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou. Interestingly, the trend of PM2.5 concentrations was not consistent with traffic and industrial emissions, as minimum concentrations were observed in the fourth period (3/01-3/31, 22.45 μg/m3) of the lockdown. However, the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants, e.g., SO2, NO2 and CO, were correlated with industrial and traffic emissions, and the lowest values were noticed in the second period (1/24-2/03) of the lockdown. Meteorological correlation analysis revealed that the decreased PM2.5 concentrations during COVID-19 can be mainly attributed to decreased industrial and traffic emissions rather than meteorological conditions. When meteorological factors were included in the PM2.5 composition and backward trajectory analyses, we found that long-distance transportation and secondary pollution offset the reduction of primary emissions in the second and third stages of the pandemic. Notably, industrial PM2.5 emissions from western, southern and southeastern Guangzhou play an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events. Our results not only verify the importance of controlling traffic and industrial emissions, but also provide targets for further improvements in PM2.5 pollution.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about various environmental issues, including PM2.5 pollution. Here, PM2.5 pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was traced and analyzed to clarify the sources and factors influencing PM2.5 in Guangzhou, with an emphasis on heavy pollution. The lockdown led to large reductions in industrial and traffic emissions, which significantly reduced PM2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou. Interestingly, the trend of PM2.5 concentrations was not consistent with traffic and industrial emissions, as minimum concentrations were observed in the fourth period (3/01-3/31, 22.45 μg/m3) of the lockdown. However, the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants, e.g., SO2, NO2 and CO, were correlated with industrial and traffic emissions, and the lowest values were noticed in the second period (1/24-2/03) of the lockdown. Meteorological correlation analysis revealed that the decreased PM2.5 concentrations during COVID-19 can be mainly attributed to decreased industrial and traffic emissions rather than meteorological conditions. When meteorological factors were included in the PM2.5 composition and backward trajectory analyses, we found that long-distance transportation and secondary pollution offset the reduction of primary emissions in the second and third stages of the pandemic. Notably, industrial PM2.5 emissions from western, southern and southeastern Guangzhou play an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events. Our results not only verify the importance of controlling traffic and industrial emissions, but also provide targets for further improvements in PM2.5 pollution.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - Meteorological analysis
KW - PM2.5 composition
KW - PM2.5 pollution
KW - Source appointment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117201580&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jes.2021.07.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jes.2021.07.009
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34969472
AN - SCOPUS:85117201580
SN - 1001-0742
VL - 115
SP - 443
EP - 452
JO - Journal of Environmental Sciences
JF - Journal of Environmental Sciences
ER -