Abstract
The composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) present in the gas-phase fraction of the atmosphere of Barcelona was analyzed during the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown and prior to this period. The changes in daily concentrations of CO, NO, NO2, O3 and particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) were considered for comparison. Bayesian analysis considering serial dependencies and seasonality showed statistically significant decreases of CO, NO, NO2, and PM10 (between −28 and −76%) and O3 increases (+45%) during lockdown. However, the lockdown concentration decreases of PeCB (−90.5%, from 8.5 to 0.8 pg m–3), HCB (−79%, 25.5–5.4 pg m–3) and some PAHs, such as benz[a]anthracene (−87%, 120–17 pg m–3) and pyrene (−81%, 3,500–680 pg m–3), were even stronger. The PAH depletion ranged between −68 and −87% that could be primarily associated with the strong reduction of traffic mobility during this period (−80%). Besides traffic reduction, the observed air quality improvements could be related to lower generation of solid urban residues (−25%) and the subsequent decrease of urban waste incineration (between −25 and −28%). Tributyl phosphate also showed a reduction in concentration during lockdown but the other OPFRs were seemingly not affected by this restriction, possibly as a result of the uniform release from the emission sources, e.g., construction material, industrial applications, and household products.
Highlights
The outbreak of a novel respiratory disease in China, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and named coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO), was quickly extended to many other countries generating a global pandemic (Sohrabi et al, 2020)
The performance of the PUF-PAS samplers and reliability of the pollutant concentrations obtained with this system were assessed by comparison of the results from simultaneous deployment of these PAS and active air sampling (AAS) between September 2017 and September
The AAS/PAS ratio differences were 0.7–2.1 for PCBs, 1.1 for HCB, 0.3–0.8 for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 0.3–1.5 for organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). These ratios have to be compared considering that AAS involves much more variability than PAS, as the former is only collected over a few hours and the latter represents average values of several months of deployment
Summary
The outbreak of a novel respiratory disease in China, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and named coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO), was quickly extended to many other countries generating a global pandemic (Sohrabi et al, 2020). On March 14, a lockdown was set in all Spain which mandated individuals to remain home except for needs such as purchasing food and medicines. These measures included the temporary closure of schools, universities, some businesses and shops. Lockdown measures have led to unprecedented reductions of air pollutant concentrations in many regions of the world, including several of the most polluted areas. Pollution assessment requires the measurement of other contaminants that are deleterious for human health, such as organochlorine compounds (OCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), among others
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