THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 QUARANTINE MEASURES ON THE LEVEL OF AIR POLLUTION IN THE SHCHUCHINSK-BOROVSKAYA RESORT AREA

In this study, changes in air quality were quantified before and during the introduction of COVID-19 quarantine measures in the Shchuchinsk-Borovskaya resort area. During 2020, there were only 49 resolutions "On strengthening restrictive quarantine measures in the territory of the Akmola region"on the territory of the resort zone. The maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmospheric air has been exceeded. We have revealed that in the entire territory of the resort area for 2018-2019. atmospheric air pollution, according to the standard index, was elevated and high (3.38 to 6.4), according to the highest frequency (16.6 to 100%), there was a very high degree of pollution, and in 2020, the indicators of the standard index and the highest frequency were within the norm.

Analysis of existing air monitoring technologies

System technologies ◽

10.34185/1562-9945-3-134-2021-08 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (134) ◽

pp. 67-78

Author(s):

Volodymyr Tarasov ◽

Bohdan Molodets ◽

Тatyana Bulanaya ◽

Oleg Baybuz

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Human Condition ◽

Air Quality Index ◽

Air Monitoring ◽

Atmospheric Air ◽

Monitoring Technologies ◽

Atmospheric air monitoring is a systematic, long-term assessment of the level of certain types of pollutants by measuring their amount in the open air. Atmospheric air monitoring is an integral part of an effective air quality management system and is carried out through environmental monitoring networks, which should support timely provision of public information about air pollution, support compliance with ambient air quality standards and development of emission strategies, support for air pollution research.The work is devoted to existing air monitoring technologies: ground (sensors, diffusion tubes, etc.) and remote resources (satellites, aircraft, etc.). In addition, standards of air quality assessment (European and American) are described. As an example, we consider the European Air Quality Index (EAQI) and the Air Quality Index according to EPF standards: indicators by which these indices are calculated, the ranking of air status depending on the value of the index are described.AQI (Air Quality Index) is used as an indicator of the impact of air on the human condition. The European Air Quality Index allows users to better understand air quality where they live, work or travel. By displaying information for Europe, users can gain an understanding of air quality in individual countries, regions and cities. The index is based on the values of the concentration of the five main pollutants, including particles less than 10μm (PM10), particles less than 2.5μm (PM2.5), ozone (O3); nitrogen dioxide (NO2); sulfur dioxide (SO2). To conclude, ground stations give a more accurate picture of the state of the air at a point, while satellite image data with a certain error (due to cloud cover, etc.) can cover a larger area and solve the problem of coverage of stations in the area. There is no single standard for calculation. Today, the European Air Quality Index (EAQI) is used in Ukraine and Europe.

Assessment of the Impact on Atmospheric Air Quality Due to Ignition of Illegal Landfills

Man and Environment. Issues of Neoecology ◽

10.26565/1992-4224-2020-34-16 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Sulfur Dioxide ◽

Solid Waste ◽

Maximum Concentration ◽

Analytical Data ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Atmospheric Air ◽

The Impact ◽

Concentration Limits

Purpose. To assess the impact on the atmospheric air quality and to calculate environmental risks due to burning of illegal landfills. Methods. Field and laboratory methods and analytical data processing. Results. The research has shown that the main pollutants in the combustion of solid waste are nitrogen dioxin, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, soot, and undifferentiated dust. At the point of emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, the maximum concentration limits of these substances significantly exceed the max allowable ones. In particular, the MAC of NO2 was exceeded in 45 times, CO – in 22 times, soot - in 210 times, SO2 – in 40.8 times, the MAC of undifferentiated dust was exceeded in 120 times. The results of pollutant emissions obtained empirically were significantly differ from those calculated by using the existing methodology. For undifferentiated dust, the results of field measurements exceed the calculated in 73.2 times, for sulfur dioxide – in 10.4 times, for nitrogen dioxide – in 3.5 times, for carbon monoxide - in 6.7 times, for soot - in in 76.8 times. The calculation of pollutant scattering using the EOL + program showed that the combustion of solid waste in a landfill on the border of residential area will exceed the maximum concentration limits for three substances. The calculation of risks for the population was performed. Conclusions. Risk calculations for the population has showed that the impact of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic substances is minimal, i.e. acceptable. The overall risk over a lifetime is also minimal (acceptable). Unauthorized landfill, of course, must be removed with the subsequent restoration of damaged components of the environment.

Analysis on the Impact of Regional Air Quality in Industrial Cities: A Case Study of Huinong District of Shizuishan City

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202016502006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 165 ◽

pp. 02006

Author(s):

Wei Dong

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Sulfur Dioxide ◽

Industrial Park ◽

Gas Emission ◽

Industrial Cities ◽

Surrounding Environment ◽

Regional Air Quality ◽

In order to explore the influencing factors of regional air quality in industrial cities, this paper takes Huinong District of Shizuishan City as the object for analysis. The author sets up monitoring points in Huinong District of Shizuishan City to monitor the gas emission of polluting enterprises in various industries, and then analyzes the impact of the industrial park and surrounding environment of Huinong District on the air quality in the urban area. The analysis results show that the hourly contribution values of SO2 and PM10 emitted by Hebin Industrial Park were 0.756 mg/m3 and 0.444 mg/m3, respectively, while that of sulfur dioxide and PM10 emitted by heating companies were 0.865 mg/m3 and 7.629 mg/m3. These are the main causes of serious air pollution in the District.

Integrated Assessment of Kazan’s Atmospheric Air Quality According to Chemical and Biological Monitoring

Safety in Technosphere ◽

10.12737/2157 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. 20-23

Author(s):

Новикова ◽

L. Novikova ◽

Демина ◽

G. Demina ◽

Степанова ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Nitrogen Dioxide ◽

Photosynthetic Activity ◽

Carbon Oxide ◽

Atmospheric Air ◽

Picea Pungens ◽

Activity Inhibition ◽

Chemical Indicators ◽

The paper presents the results related to complex assessment of Kazan city air quality by chemical indicators and by photosynthetic activity inhibition level of blue spruce (Pícea pungens). It has been shown that on chemical indicators the air quality fluctuates from high to very high polluted level, and the greatest contribution to air pollution is made by dust, carbon oxide, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde. It has been shown that blue spruce’s (Pícea pungens) slowed-down fluorescence indexes are good indicators of atmospheric air pollution. A strong correlation has been revealed between the content of carbon oxide, nitrogen dioxide and dust in the air and the slowed-down fluorescence indexes.

Effects of business-as-usual anthropogenic emissions on air quality

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-12-6915-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 6915-6937 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

A. Pozzer ◽

P. Zimmermann ◽

U.M. Doering ◽

J. van Aardenne ◽

H. Tost ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

East Asia ◽

South Asia ◽

Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

General Circulation ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Business As Usual ◽

The Impact ◽

Abstract. The atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC has been used to estimate the impact of anthropogenic emission changes on global and regional air quality in recent and future years (2005, 2010, 2025 and 2050). The emission scenario assumes that population and economic growth largely determine energy and food consumption and consequent pollution sources with the current technologies ("business as usual"). This scenario is chosen to show the effects of not implementing legislation to prevent additional climate change and growing air pollution, other than what is in place for the base year 2005, representing a pessimistic (but plausible) future. By comparing with recent observations, it is shown that the model reproduces the main features of regional air pollution distributions though with some imprecisions inherent to the coarse horizontal resolution (~100 km) and simplified bottom-up emission input. To identify possible future hot spots of poor air quality, a multi pollutant index (MPI), suited for global model output, has been applied. It appears that East and South Asia and the Middle East represent such hotspots due to very high pollutant concentrations, while a general increase of MPIs is observed in all populated regions in the Northern Hemisphere. In East Asia a range of pollutant gases and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is projected to reach very high levels from 2005 onward, while in South Asia air pollution, including ozone, will grow rapidly towards the middle of the century. Around the Persian Gulf, where natural PM2.5 concentrations are already high (desert dust), ozone levels are expected to increase strongly. The population weighted MPI (PW-MPI), which combines demographic and pollutant concentration projections, shows that a rapidly increasing number of people worldwide will experience reduced air quality during the first half of the 21st century. Following this business as usual scenario, it is projected that air quality for the global average citizen in 2050 would be almost comparable to that for the average citizen in East Asia in the year 2005, which underscores the need to pursue emission reductions.

Effects of business-as-usual anthropogenic emissions on air quality

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-12-8617-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 8617-8676

Author(s):

A. Pozzer ◽

P. Zimmermann ◽

U.M. Doering ◽

J. van Aardenne ◽

H. Tost ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

East Asia ◽

South Asia ◽

Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

General Circulation ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Business As Usual ◽

The Impact ◽

Abstract. The atmospheric chemistry general circulation model EMAC has been used to estimate the impact of anthropogenic emission changes on global and regional air quality in recent and future years (2005, 2010, 2025 and 2050). The emission scenario assumes that population and economic growth largely determine energy and food consumption and consequent pollution sources with the current technologies ("business as usual"). This scenario is chosen to show the effects of not implementing legislation to prevent additional climate change and growing air pollution, other than what is in place for the base year 2005, representing a pessimistic (but feasible) future. By comparing with recent observations, it is shown that the model reproduces the main features of regional air pollution distributions though with some imprecisions inherent to the coarse horizontal resolution (~100 km) and simplified bottom-up emission input. To identify possible future hot spots of poor air quality, a multi pollutant index (MPI), suited for global model output, has been applied. It appears that East and South Asia and the Middle East represent such hotspots due to very high pollutant concentrations, although a general increase of MPIs is observed in all populated regions in the Northern Hemisphere. In East Asia a range of pollutant gases and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is projected to reach very high levels from 2005 onward, while in South Asia air pollution, including ozone, will grow rapidly towards the middle of the century. Around the Arabian Gulf, where natural PM2.5 concentrations are already high (desert dust), ozone levels are expected to increase strongly. The per capita MPI (PCMPI), which combines demographic and pollutants concentrations projections, shows that a rapidly increasing number of people worldwide will experience reduced air quality during the first half of the 21st century. Following the business as usual scenario, it is projected that air quality for the global average citizen in 2050 would be almost comparable to that for the average citizen in the East Asia in the year 2005, which underscores the need to pursue emission reductions.

Functional ANOVA approaches for detecting changes in air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic

Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment ◽

10.1007/s00477-021-02071-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christian Acal ◽

Ana M. Aguilera ◽

Annalina Sarra ◽

Adelia Evangelista ◽

Tonio Di Battista ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Functional Data ◽

Central Italy ◽

Principal Component ◽

Functional Principal Component Analysis ◽

Area Of Interest ◽

Pm 10 ◽

The Impact ◽

Monitoring Stations

AbstractFaced with novel coronavirus outbreak, the most hard-hit countries adopted a lockdown strategy to contrast the spread of virus. Many studies have already documented that the COVID-19 control actions have resulted in improved air quality locally and around the world. Following these lines of research, we focus on air quality changes in the urban territory of Chieti-Pescara (Central Italy), identified as an area of criticality in terms of air pollution. Concentrations of $$\hbox {NO}_{{2}}$$ NO 2 , $$\hbox {PM}_{{10}}$$ PM 10 , $$\hbox {PM}_{2.5}$$ PM 2.5 and benzene are used to evaluate air pollution changes in this Region. Data were measured by several monitoring stations over two specific periods: from 1st February to 10 th March 2020 (before lockdown period) and from 11st March 2020 to 18 th April 2020 (during lockdown period). The impact of lockdown on air quality is assessed through functional data analysis. Our work makes an important contribution to the analysis of variance for functional data (FANOVA). Specifically, a novel approach based on multivariate functional principal component analysis is introduced to tackle the multivariate FANOVA problem for independent measures, which is reduced to test multivariate homogeneity on the vectors of the most explicative principal components scores. Results of the present study suggest that the level of each pollutant changed during the confinement. Additionally, the differences in the mean functions of all pollutants according to the location and type of monitoring stations (background vs traffic), are ascribable to the $$\hbox {PM}_{{10}}$$ PM 10 and benzene concentrations for pre-lockdown and during-lockdown tenure, respectively. FANOVA has proven to be beneficial to monitoring the evolution of air quality in both periods of time. This can help environmental protection agencies in drawing a more holistic picture of air quality status in the area of interest.

The interplay between environmental exposures and COVID-19 risks in the health of children

Environmental Health ◽

10.1186/s12940-021-00716-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Peter D. Sly ◽

Brittany A. Trottier ◽

Catherine M. Bulka ◽

Stephania A. Cormier ◽

Julius Fobil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Disease Severity ◽

Research Effort ◽

Severe Disease ◽

Environmental Exposures ◽

Research Strategy ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Research Questions ◽

Abstract Background An unusual feature of SARS-Cov-2 infection and the COVID-19 pandemic is that children are less severely affected than adults. This is especially paradoxical given the epidemiological links between poor air quality and increased COVID-19 severity in adults and that children are generally more vulnerable than adults to the adverse consequences of air pollution. Objectives To identify gaps in knowledge about the factors that protect children from severe SARS-Cov-2 infection even in the face of air pollution, and to develop a transdisciplinary research strategy to address these gaps. Methods An international group of researchers interested in children’s environmental health was invited to identify knowledge gaps and to develop research questions to close these gaps. Discussion Key research questions identified include: what are the effects of SAR-Cov-2 infection during pregnancy on the developing fetus and child; what is the impact of age at infection and genetic susceptibility on disease severity; why do some children with COVID-19 infection develop toxic shock and Kawasaki-like symptoms; what are the impacts of toxic environmental exposures including poor air quality, chemical and metal exposures on innate immunity, especially in the respiratory epithelium; what is the possible role of a “dirty” environment in conveying protection – an example of the “hygiene hypothesis”; and what are the long term health effects of SARS-Cov-2 infection in early life. Conclusion A concerted research effort by a multidisciplinary team of scientists is needed to understand the links between environmental exposures, especially air pollution and COVID-19. We call for specific research funding to encourage basic and clinical research to understand if/why exposure to environmental factors is associated with more severe disease, why children appear to be protected, and how innate immune responses may be involved. Lessons learned about SARS-Cov-2 infection in our children will help us to understand and reduce disease severity in adults, the opposite of the usual scenario.

Scalable kernel-based SVM classification algorithm on imbalance air quality data for proficient healthcare

Complex & Intelligent Systems ◽

10.1007/s40747-021-00435-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shwet Ketu ◽

Pramod Kumar Mishra

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Class Imbalance ◽

Imbalanced Data ◽

Classification Algorithm ◽

Quality Data ◽

Pollution Level ◽

Classification Problems ◽

Chi Square ◽

AbstractIn the last decade, we have seen drastic changes in the air pollution level, which has become a critical environmental issue. It should be handled carefully towards making the solutions for proficient healthcare. Reducing the impact of air pollution on human health is possible only if the data is correctly classified. In numerous classification problems, we are facing the class imbalance issue. Learning from imbalanced data is always a challenging task for researchers, and from time to time, possible solutions have been developed by researchers. In this paper, we are focused on dealing with the imbalanced class distribution in a way that the classification algorithm will not compromise its performance. The proposed algorithm is based on the concept of the adjusting kernel scaling (AKS) method to deal with the multi-class imbalanced dataset. The kernel function's selection has been evaluated with the help of weighting criteria and the chi-square test. All the experimental evaluation has been performed on sensor-based Indian Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) dataset. The proposed algorithm with the highest accuracy of 99.66% wins the race among all the classification algorithms i.e. Adaboost (59.72%), Multi-Layer Perceptron (95.71%), GaussianNB (80.87%), and SVM (96.92). The results of the proposed algorithm are also better than the existing literature methods. It is also clear from these results that our proposed algorithm is efficient for dealing with class imbalance problems along with enhanced performance. Thus, accurate classification of air quality through our proposed algorithm will be useful for improving the existing preventive policies and will also help in enhancing the capabilities of effective emergency response in the worst pollution situation.

Gender Differences in Association between Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in the Capital of the Green Lungs of Poland–Population-Based Study with 2,953,000 Person-Years of Follow-Up

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9082351 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 2351

Author(s):

Łukasz Kuźma ◽

Krzysztof Struniawski ◽

Szymon Pogorzelski ◽

Hanna Bachórzewska-Gajewska ◽

Sławomir Dobrzycki

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

World Health ◽

The European Union ◽

Daily Mortality ◽

Male Population ◽

(1) Introduction: air pollution is considered to be one of the main risk factors for public health. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollution contributes to the premature deaths of approximately 500,000 citizens of the European Union (EU), including almost 5000 inhabitants of Poland every year. (2) Purpose: to assess the gender differences in the impact of air pollution on the mortality in the population of the city of Bialystok—the capital of the Green Lungs of Poland. (3) Materials and Methods: based on the data from the Central Statistical Office, the number—and causes of death—of Białystok residents in the period 2008–2017 were analyzed. The study utilized the data recorded by the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection station and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management during the analysis period. Time series regression with Poisson distribution was used in statistical analysis. (4) Results: A total of 34,005 deaths had been recorded, in which women accounted for 47.5%. The proportion of cardiovascular-related deaths was 48% (n = 16,370). An increase of SO2 concentration by 1-µg/m3 (relative risk (RR) 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.12; p = 0.005) and a 10 °C decrease of temperature (RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05; p = 0.005) were related to an increase in the number of daily deaths. No gender differences in the impact of air pollution on mortality were observed. In the analysis of the subgroup of cardiovascular deaths, the main pollutant that was found to have an effect on daily mortality was particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5); the RR for 10-µg/m3 increase of PM2.5 was 1.07 (95% CI 1.02–1.12; p = 0.01), and this effect was noted only in the male population. (5) Conclusions: air quality and atmospheric conditions had an impact on the mortality of Bialystok residents. The main air pollutant that influenced the mortality rate was SO2, and there were no gender differences in the impact of this pollutant. In the male population, an increased exposure to PM2.5 concentration was associated with significantly higher cardiovascular mortality. These findings suggest that improving air quality, in particular, even with lower SO2 levels than currently allowed by the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, may benefit public health. Further studies on this topic are needed, but our results bring questions whether the recommendations concerning acceptable concentrations of air pollutants should be stricter, or is there a safe concentration of SO2 in the air at all.