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Air Quality Variation in Wuhan, Daegu, and Tokyo during the Explosive Outbreak of COVID-19 and Its Health Effects

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  • Chang-Jin Ma

    (Department of Environmental Science, Fukuoka Women’s University, Fukuoka 813-8529, Japan)

  • Gong-Unn Kang

    (Department of Medical Administration, Wonkwang Health Science University, Iksan 54538, Korea)

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the variation of the air quality actually measured from the air pollution monitoring stations (AQMS) in three cities (Wuhan, Daegu, and Tokyo), in Asian countries experiencing the explosive outbreak of COVID-19, in a short period of time. In addition, we made a new attempt to calculate the reduced Dose PM 2.5 (μg) at the bronchiolar (Br.) and alveolar-interstitial (AI) regions of the 10-year-old children after the city lockdown/self-reflection of each city. A comparison of the average PM 2.5 of a month before and after the lockdown (Wuhan) and self-reflection (Daegu and Tokyo) clearly shows that the PM 2.5 concentration was decreased by 29.9, 20.9, and 3.6% in Wuhan, Daegu and Tokyo, respectively. Wuhan, Daegu and Tokyo also recorded 53.2, 19.0, and 10.4% falls of NO 2 concentration, respectively. Wuhan, which had the largest decrease of PM 2.5 concentration due to COVID-19, also marked the largest reduced Dose PM 2.5 10-year-old children (μg) (3660 μg at Br. and 6222 μg at AI), followed by Daegu (445 μg at Br. and 1287 μg at AI), and Tokyo (18 μg at Br. and 52 μg at AI), over two months after the city lockdown/self-reflection. Our results suggest that the city lockdown/self-reflection had the effect of lowering the concentration of PM 2.5 , resulting in an extension of the period it took to the acute allergic airway inflammation (AAI) for the 10-year-old children.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang-Jin Ma & Gong-Unn Kang, 2020. "Air Quality Variation in Wuhan, Daegu, and Tokyo during the Explosive Outbreak of COVID-19 and Its Health Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-12, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4119-:d:369270
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yuhui Zhao & Xinyan Zhu & Wei Guo & Bing She & Han Yue & Ming Li, 2019. "Exploring the Weekly Travel Patterns of Private Vehicles Using Automatic Vehicle Identification Data: A Case Study of Wuhan, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Natasha Maria Barnes & Tsz Wai Ng & Kwok Keung Ma & Ka Man Lai, 2018. "In-Cabin Air Quality during Driving and Engine Idling in Air-Conditioned Private Vehicles in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Dong Hee Choi & Dong Hwa Kang, 2018. "Indoor/Outdoor Relationships of Airborne Particles under Controlled Pressure Difference across the Building Envelope in Korean Multifamily Apartments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Diya Jacob & Samuel Stowe & Iyinoluwa Babarinde & Aakruti Sharma & Abigail Christopher & M. J. Ruzmyn Vilcassim, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 Related Changes on Air Quality in Birmingham, Alabama, United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Chenlu Tao & Gang Diao & Baodong Cheng, 2021. "The Dynamic Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality: The Beijing Lessons," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Beom-Soon Han & Kyeongjoo Park & Kyung-Hwan Kwak & Seung-Bu Park & Han-Gyul Jin & Sungju Moon & Jong-Won Kim & Jong-Jin Baik, 2020. "Air Quality Change in Seoul, South Korea under COVID-19 Social Distancing: Focusing on PM 2.5," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo & Jesica Fernández-Agüera & Sonia Cesteros-García & Roberto Alonso González-Lezcano, 2020. "Bad Air Can Also Kill: Residential Indoor Air Quality and Pollutant Exposure Risk during the COVID-19 Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-33, September.

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