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Differential impact of government lockdown policies on reducing air pollution levels and related mortality in Europe.

Authors :
Schneider, Rochelle
Masselot, Pierre
Vicedo-Cabrera, Ana M.
Sera, Francesco
Blangiardo, Marta
Forlani, Chiara
Douros, John
Jorba, Oriol
Adani, Mario
Kouznetsov, Rostislav
Couvidat, Florian
Arteta, Joaquim
Raux, Blandine
Guevara, Marc
Colette, Augustin
Barré, Jérôme
Peuch, Vincent-Henri
Gasparrini, Antonio
Source :
Scientific Reports; 11/16/2021, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p1-13, 13p
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Previous studies have reported a decrease in air pollution levels following the enforcement of lockdown measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these investigations were mostly based on simple pre-post comparisons using past years as a reference and did not assess the role of different policy interventions. This study contributes to knowledge by quantifying the association between specific lockdown measures and the decrease in NO<subscript>2</subscript>, O<subscript>3</subscript>, PM<subscript>2.5</subscript>, and PM<subscript>10</subscript> levels across 47 European cities. It also estimated the number of avoided deaths during the period. This paper used new modelled data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) to define business-as-usual and lockdown scenarios of daily air pollution trends. This study applies a spatio-temporal Bayesian non-linear mixed effect model to quantify the changes in pollutant concentrations associated with the stringency indices of individual policy measures. The results indicated non-linear associations with a stronger decrease in NO<subscript>2</subscript> compared to PM<subscript>2.5</subscript> and PM<subscript>10</subscript> concentrations at very strict policy levels. Differences across interventions were also identified, specifically the strong effects of actions linked to school/workplace closure, limitations on gatherings, and stay-at-home requirements. Finally, the observed decrease in pollution potentially resulted in hundreds of avoided deaths across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20452322
Volume :
11
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Scientific Reports
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
155126496
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04277-6