Abstract
Particulate matter (PM) is the main pollutant produced by open-pit mining operations, and its emission into the atmosphere is strongly associated with adverse health effects in the surrounding communities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19-related lockdown on the PM concentrations in the North, Central, and South Zones of Cerrejón, Colombia, the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America. To compare the levels before and during the emergency shutdown, we analyzed both the ground-based daily PM10 and PM2.5 data and the satellite (Terra/Aqua MODIS)-based daily aerosol optical depth (AOD) values from March 6 through April 13, 2020. The average PM10 concentrations in the North and South Zones, in contrast to those observed at other global monitoring sites, increased by 13–38% and 4–7%, respectively, although they decreased by 26–31% in the Central Zone, between the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods. Furthermore, during the latter, the daily PM2.5 levels in the South Zone rose by up to 43%, and we found higher AOD values (≥ 0.4) over the Central and South Zones as well as significant AOD-contributing loads upwind and downwind of the coal production pits. Finally, the increases in humidity and temperature (≥ 3.5% and ≥ 0.3 K, respectively), decrease in planetary boundary layer height (≥ 0.11 km), wind field variability, and rural biomass burning events shaped the spatial-temporal behavior of the PM in this region, and changes in meteorology and external sources nearly offset the reduction in emissions from mining activities. These results establish a baseline for developing future regulations and mitigation plans.
Highlights
Publisher: Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research ISSN: 1680-8584 print ISSN: 2071-1409 onlineCopyright: World Health Organization (WHO)
Significant reductions in PM10 levels were recorded at CoalM-4 (3–25%) and CoalM-5 (1–32%) stations located in the Central Zone of the coal mine
Six of the eight PM10 monitoring stations recorded the highest concentrations ranging between 26.7–45.8 μg m−3, which represented an increase of 5–33% in the average concentrations during the quarantine period
Summary
Publisher: Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research ISSN: 1680-8584 print ISSN: 2071-1409 onlineCopyright: World Health Organization (WHO). The scientific community has published thousands of articles in recent months on topics ranging from the origin and Aerosol and Air Quality Research | https://aaqr.org symptoms of the virus to environmental and socio-economic impacts caused by measures to control its spread (Huang et al, 2020; Nicola et al, 2020). Vitenu-Sackey and Barfi (2021) analyzed the effect of the pandemic on the economy of 170 countries during the first 10 months of 2020 and found that a single percentage point increase in COVID-19 cases could lead to a reduction of up to 0.049 in the Human Development Index, indicating the deterioration of poverty alleviation efforts. Okereke et al (2021) highlighted that the effects of COVID-19 intensified the problem of provision in health systems in low- and middle-income countries, thereby further intensifying the global crisis of identifying non-communicable diseases
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