Air Quality did not improve in lockdown period: Study

It is estimated that air pollution exposure, particularly PM2.5, seems to have resulted in the death of 1.27 million people in 2017.

The story so far: A comparative study of air quality and mobility patterns during the Covid lockdown noted that the air looked much cleaner, but the Air Quality did not improve as much as originally thought.

The study, published in the ‘Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts Journal’ noted that observational data shows air pollution in India decreased in the first COVID-19 lockdown when emissions from vehicles naturally declined.

Several air pollutants didn’t drop closely as much as first assumed and even more unexpected was that ozone levels increased even as some other pollutants dropped, noted a team of researchers at
York University in Canada in their study.

The methodology of the in-depth study focussed on nitrogen oxides (NOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and O3, as well as meteorological factors within two cities Delhi and Hyderabad — during the beginning of the first lockdown, from 24 March to 24 April, 2020.

Some of the major highlights of the study were: impact of emissions, meteorology and chemistry on air pollution during the Covid lockdown and all the three vital components should be considered when considering the effects of whichever short-term on air pollutants, the researchers observed.

The study also noted that ozone production in Delhi is likely influenced by volatile organic compounds (VOC) and suggested the attempts to mitigate by focussing on dominant VOC sources.

Air pollution is considered to be a known health risk in India and the country has some of the worst air pollution globally resulting in a disproportionally high level of disease and mortality. It is estimated that air pollution exposure, particularly PM2.5, seems to have resulted in the death of 1.27 million people in 2017.