Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies helped reduce air pollution levels and death rates in Europe

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies such as workplace closures in European cities reduced levels of air pollution and the number of associated deaths, according to new estimates published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

The research, which was funded by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), was led by a team of statistical health and earth observation satellite modellers based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with colleagues from CAMS.

The study compared government policies from 47 European cities from February to July 2020 and estimated the changes in pollution levels and related number of deaths avoided during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

Government measures for COVID-19 such as school and workplace closure, cancelling public events, and stay-at-home requirements had the strongest effect on reducing NO2 levels. This is linked to the reduction in road transport and local mobility which is known to be a contributor to NO2 air pollution. Spanish, French and Italian cities had the largest decrease in NO2 of between 50% and 60% during the period.

Although strong decreases in NO2 were observed, levels of fine particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 were reduced more modestly since they are also produced by natural sources (wildfires and dust), and other emission sources like residential activities, that were slightly increased during lockdown.

“The lockdown during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic created immense health and social costs, however, it has offered unique conditions to investigate potential effects of strict policies to reduce pollution levels in urban areas. This ‘natural experiment’ has given us a glimpse of how air quality can be improved by drastic public health measures that would be difficult to implement in normal times. The information can be important to design effective policies to tackle the problem of pollution in our cities.” – Antonio Gasparrini, Study Senior Author and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

CAMS provided the surface-level data for this research using an ensemble of regional air quality models. This allowed the team to compare the concentrations of the main air pollutants with two emissions scenarios, one corresponding to business-as-usual conditions and the other corresponding to a detailed estimate of emissions resulting from the actual governmental measures taken during the first lockdown, varying for each country, each day and for each of the main activity sectors (road traffic, industry etc.).

Based on the estimates for NO2, there were 485.5 (confidence interval of 590.9; 377.6) excess deaths avoided associated with the exposure change (lockdown – business-as-usual difference), compared to 2,572.9 (confidence interval of 2,042.3; 3,070.9) excess deaths estimated under a business-as-usual scenario.

Across all pollutants, a total of more than 800 deaths were avoided with improved air quality resulting from the governmental measures taken to limit the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Paris, London, Barcelona, and Milan were among the top six cities with the highest number of avoided deaths.

Although all cities experienced a slight increase in air pollution levels after the strong decline in March and April 2020, levels remained below business-as-usual scenario estimates throughout the period studied. Restrictions on internal and international travel showed a minor impact on the local pollution levels.

Rochelle Schneider, Honorary Assistant Professor in Geospatial Data Science at LSHTM, Visiting Scientist at ECMWF, and first author of the study said: “Connecting expertise rapidly after and during the COVID-19 pandemic began has allowed us to estimate the health benefits from specific government measures. This, and other similar studies, can help drive the message that we definitely need to improve urban air quality for human health, and for the environment.”

“Government policies decided during the spring and early summer of 2020 gave us a unique opportunity to study a “real-life” scenario with lower air pollution levels. This paper conveyed strong messages on the potential of replicable, scalable, and collaborative research conducted with complementary expertise and knowledge from public health and tropical medicine universities, Copernicus, and meteorological institutes.”

Vincent-Henri Peuch, Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said: “This research benefits from a unique dataset provided by CAMS, which allows to compare as realistically and accurately as possible European air quality as it was experienced as a result of the COVID-19 measures and what would have happened under normal conditions. This overcomes many limitations of other studies, which compared for instance different years or different periods. The CAMS multi-model ensemble that has been used to generate this dataset has capabilities that have no equivalent in the world.” Vincent-Henri Peuch added: “The findings are extremely significant as they consolidate the quantitative evidence that the COVID-related government measures had a direct effect on air pollution levels areas across Europe, particularly for NO2. Beyond the analysis of the mortality during the first months of the pandemic, this study could help shape future policy as the public health benefits of reducing pollution in our cities and the effectiveness of certain measures are clear to see”.

The authors acknowledge limitations of the study, including the use of country’s overall response rather than city-specific COVID-19 interventions.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the European Union.

Source: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies helped reduce air pollution levels and death rates in Europe
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Plastic snowfall in the Alps

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Nanoplastic in the environment

In a new study, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, is investigating how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere. According to the study, some nanoplastics travel over 2000 kilometers through the air. According to the figures from the measurements about 43 trillion miniature plastic particles land in Switzerland every year. Researchers still disagree on the exact number. But according to estimates from the study, it could be as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics that cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to the urban lowlands. These estimates are very high compared to other studies, and more research is needed to verify these numbers.

The study is uncharted scientific territory because the spread of nanoplastics through the air is still largely unexplored. The result of Brunner’s research is the most accurate record of air pollution by nanoplastics ever made. To count the plastic particles, Brunner and his colleagues have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer.  

Extreme conditions

The scientists studied a small area at an altitude of 3106 meters at the top of the mountain “Hoher Sonnenblick” in the “Hohe Tauern” National Park in Austria. An observatory of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics has been located here since 1886. The observatory is run by meteorologist and Arctic researcher Elke Ludewig. Since research began here in the late 19th century, the observatory has only been non-operational on four days. The research station also served as a base for the study on the spread of nanoplastics in remote areas.

Every day, and in all weather conditions, scientists removed a part of the top layer of snow around a marker at 8 AM and carefully stored it. Contamination of the samples by nanoplastics in the air or on the scientists’ clothes was a particular challenge. In the laboratory, the researchers sometimes had to remain motionless when a colleague handled an open sample.

The origin of the tiny particles was traced with the help of European wind and weather data. The researchers could show that the greatest emission of nanoplastics into the atmosphere occurs in densely populated, urban areas. About 30% of the nanoplastic particles measured on the mountain top originate from a radius of 200 kilometers, mainly from cities. However, plastics from the world’s oceans apparently also get into the air via the spray of the waves. Around 10% of the particles measured in the study were blown onto the mountain by wind and weather over 2000 kilometers – some of them from the Atlantic.  

Nanoparticles in the bloodstream

It is estimated that more than 8300 million tonnes of plastic have been produced worldwide to date, about 60% of which is now waste. This waste erodes through weathering effects and mechanical abrasion from macro- to micro- and nanoparticles. But discarded plastic is far from the only source. Everyday use of plastic products such as packaging and clothing releases nanoplastics. Particles in this size range are so light that their movement in the air can best be compared to gases.

Besides plastics, there are all kinds of other tiny particles. From Sahara sand to brake pads, the world is buzzing through the air as abrasion. It is as yet unclear whether this kind of air pollution poses a potential health threat to humans. Nanoparticles, unlike microparticles, do not just end up in the stomach. They are sucked deep into the lungs through respiration, where their size may allow them to cross the cell-blood barrier and enter the human bloodstream. Whether this is harmful or even dangerous, however, remains to be researched.

Plastic snowfall in the Alps | EurekAlert!
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Stagnant air advisory issued for Willamette Valley, fog advisory added

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

An air stagnation advisory is in effect for most of western Oregon and southwest Washington through Wednesday afternoon.

A new dense fog advisory was also issued Sunday for the central and South Willamette Valley lasting through noon Monday. It’s expected to cause poor visibility of one-quarter of a mile in areas of dense fog. 

Air stagnation can cause respiratory problems for some residents and has led to the National Weather Service recommending no outdoor burning.

Meteorologist David Bishop with the NWS in Portland explained that stagnant air is caused by a persistent ridge of high pressure over the area, usually resulting in calm weather. 

“If that ridge and calm weather decides to hang around for an extended period, the air also isn’t moving around,” he said. 

According to the NWS advisory Sunday morning, stagnant air is expected in areas below 1,500 feet elevation, lasting through 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Bishop said there would be minimal air movement in the area, which could lead to some effects on health.

“Obviously if the air is not changing out, particulate matter can hang around, which could lead to an impact,” he said.

The advisory states that the poor air quality could cause hazardous driving conditions with low visibility, and that air quality agencies “highly recommend” no outdoor burning occur and residential wood burning devices be “limited as much as possible.”

The advisory also recommends drivers slow down, use headlights in poor visibility and leave plenty of space between vehicles.

It suggests people with respiratory illness to follow their doctor’s advice for dealing with high levels of air pollution during stagnant air. 

The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency issued a “Yellow Home Wood Heating” notice for Eugene, Springfield and Oakridge for Saturday through Wednesday. The notice recommends residents not use fireplaces and wood stoves to improve air quality. 

“If you do light a fire, this is the weekend to check your smoke plume and assure it’s creating as little smoke as possible,” the notice states. “Efficient fires are small, hot and use dry, seasoned wood with open dampers.”

LRAPA’s air quality map showed both Eugene and Springfield at “good” air quality index ratings of 29 and 15, respectively at noon on Sunday. Salem was at a “good” rating of 41 a little after noon, according to the air quality website AirNow.gov. 

The NWS advisory was initially issued for the south Willamette Valley, but then was expanded to all of western Oregon and southwest Washing ton aside from the coast a little after noon Sunday. 

Stagnant air advisory issued for Willamette Valley, fog advisory added

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Dust storm from Balochistan causes haze over Mumbai, air quality drops to ‘severe’

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

As per IMD reports, a dust storm originating in the Gulf area and Karachi, Pakistan, towards Rajasthan and neighboring Gujarat, coupled with warmer temperatures in areas along the Arabian sea including Mumbai has led to sand particles entering and polluting the air.

On Sunday, Mumbai woke up to hazy weather and dust-laden winds a day after light rain in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned that hazy and cloudy skies have been reported over Mumbai, Pune, north Maharashtra and adjoining districts of Gujarat since Sunday morning and will prevail till early Monday.

As per IMD reports, a dust storm originating in the Gulf area and Karachi, Pakistan, towards Rajasthan and neighboring Gujarat, coupled with warmer temperatures in areas along the Arabian sea including Mumbai has led to sand particles entering and polluting the air.

The worst-hit was Malad, which recorded an AQI of 436. Chembur recorded an AQI of 347, Andheri – 340, Bhandup – 336, Mazgaon – 372, Worli – 319, BKC – 307, Colaba -221, Borivli -162 and Navi Mumbai 101.

Dust storm originating from Balochistan

The dust storm originated in Balochistan, Pakistan and was caused by a westerly trough combined with humid weather.

Winds carrying dust blew from south Pakistan areas and adjoining the Arabian sea towards Kutch and Saurashtra towards evening.

An IMD official said, ‘’dust storms accompanied by surface winds at a wind speed of 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph, was over Saurashtra and Kutch, and at isolated places over adjoining Gujarat region and south Rajasthan and impacted Mumbai and adjoining areas on Sunday. The Saurashtra coast has been getting dust-raising winds from Saturday evening. The Dwarka weather station reported 400-metre visibility. At Porbandar, the wind speed was more than 10 km per hour with visibility of less than one kilometer.’’

Dust storm from Balochistan causes haze over Mumbai, air quality drops to ‘severe’ – Cities News
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Lack of information related to pollution exposure key issue for low-income households

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

A lack of information is an often overlooked but important cause of pollution exposure among low-income households or communities of color, according to University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers say the disproportionate exposure of pollution on those vulnerable groups is widely studied and known, as are such causes as income inequality, discrimination and the decision of industries to locate factories in places where their costs are lowest. Still, they find limited or missing information about pollution also affects those groups or communities to a greater degree than other segments of the population—with far less attention paid to what this means from an environmental justice standpoint.

“Society frequently fails to recognize just how much pollution people are exposed to and how much it affects their health,” said Catherine Hausman, an associate professor at the Ford School of Public Policy who co-authored the study with Samuel Stolper, an environmental and energy economist with U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability. “This failure disproportionately hurts low-income communities, and it’s one of the many reasons that the current push for environmental justice is important.”

The researchers developed a model of the housing decision near a source of pollution when air quality isn’t known. Their goal was to shed light on how information failures affect pollution exposure and household well-being—focusing on how those impacts differ across income levels.

They concur with common findings that low-income households are exposed to more pollution, but their work also shows that those households are exposed to more hidden pollution and experience greater damages from a lack of information. The latter two, more novel findings occur because households sort according to known pollution, which is positively correlated with hidden pollution because of the way it dissipates, the study says.

Hidden pollution is more challenging, researchers say, precisely because of its intangibility: Pollution isn’t always visible or odor-producing. What’s more, government air-quality monitoring is sparse and regulators rely on self-reporting for certain emissions—and some companies have been prosecuted for tampering with equipment or obscuring pollution levels.

Beyond what it reveals about pollution exposure, Hausman and her colleagues say hidden factors and the lack of information about them could create income-based or racial disparities in other contexts, such as climate change or groundwater sources.

As far as recommendations, the study notes a Biden administration order that calls for creating new data tools and communication plans for dealing with environmental injustices. Among other things, the order directs environmental officials to create a community notification program to provide real-time data to the public on pollution, including emissions and toxins.

Such policies are valuable and attainable because they are less costly and politically challenging to implement, but the researchers caution they alone aren’t sufficient for full equity.

The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Lack of information related to pollution exposure key issue for low-income households
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Air pollution significantly reduces pollination by confusing butterflies and bees

Posted on January 20, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Common air pollutants from both urban and rural environments may be reducing the pollinating abilities of insects by preventing them from sniffing out the crops and wildflowers that depend on them, new research has shown.

Scientists from the University of Reading, the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology, and the University of Birmingham found that there were up to 70% fewer pollinators, up to 90% fewer flower visits and an overall pollination reduction of up to 31% in test plants when common ground-level air pollutants, including diesel exhaust pollutants and ozone, were present.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, is the first to observe a negative impact of common air pollutants on pollination in the natural environment. The theory is that the pollutants react with and change the scents of flowers, making them harder to find.

Dr. Robbie Girling, Associate Professor in Agroecology at the University of Reading, who led the project, said: “We knew from our previous lab studies that diesel exhaust can have negative effects on insect pollinators, but the impacts we found in the field were much more dramatic than we had expected.”

Dr. James Ryalls, a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow at the University of Reading, who conducted the study, said: “The findings are worrying because these pollutants are commonly found in the air many of us breathe every day. We know that these pollutants are bad for our health, and the significant reductions we saw in pollinator numbers and activity shows that there are also clear implications for the natural ecosystems we depend on.”

Previous laboratory studies by members of the Reading team have shown that diesel fumes can alter floral odors. This work suggested that pollution could contribute to the ongoing declines in pollinating insects, by making it harder for them to locate their food—pollen and nectar.

The impact this phenomenon has in nature, where insects provide pollination of important food crops and native wildflowers is less well understood, so this new study aimed to gather evidence to investigate how air pollution affects different pollinating insect species, some of which rely on scent more than others.

The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, used a purpose-built fumigation facility to regulate levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) – present in diesel exhaust fumes—and ozone in an open field environment. They then observed the effects these pollutants had on the pollination of black mustard plants by free-flying, locally-occurring pollinating insects over the course of two summer field seasons.

They used pollution concentrations well below maximum average levels—equating to 40-50% of the limits currently defined by US law as safe for the environment.

This pales in comparison with the far higher levels of pollution that occur around the world due to breaches of regulations. For example, outside of London, a 2019 analysis showed illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide were recorded in local authorities in large areas of northern England, including Cheshire and Gateshead, and south England, including Wiltshire, Chichester and rural areas such as the New Forest.

Observations revealed there were 62-70% fewer pollinator visits to the plants located in polluted air. This reduction was seen in seven pollinator groups, particularly bees, moths, hoverflies and butterflies. There were also 83-90% fewer flower visits by these insects, and ultimately a 14-31% reduction in pollination, based on seed yield and other factors.

Such findings could have wide ranging implications because insect pollination delivers hundreds of billions of pounds worth of economic value every year. It supports around 8% of the total value of agricultural food production worldwide, and 70% of all crop species, including apples, strawberries and cocoa, rely on it.

This research is part of continuing studies into the effects of air pollution on insect health and their interactions with the environment by researchers at the University of Reading.

Dr. Christian Pfrang, Reader in Atmospheric Science at the University of Birmingham and a co-author on the study, said: “This truly cross-disciplinary work demonstrated very clearly how atmospheric pollutants negatively impact on pollination with direct consequences for food production as well as the resilience of our natural environment.”

Air pollution significantly reduces pollination by confusing butterflies and bees
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Lowering air pollution reduces risk for dementia in older women, study finds

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Long-term improvement in air quality lowers the risk for dementia in older women, a study published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.

Large reductions in air pollution reduce the likelihood women ages 74 to 92 years will develop dementia, or memory loss and declines in brain function, as they age by up to 20%, the data showed.

The decline in dementia risk for women in this group associated with boosts in air quality was equivalent to taking nearly 2 1/2 years off of their age, the researchers said.

“Our findings strengthen the evidence that high levels of air pollution can harm our brain, and that reducing the exposure may promote healthier brain aging in older women,” study co-author Diana Younan told UPI in an email.

“These toxic pollutants cause inflammation in the lungs and blood that may be harmful to the aging brains, resulting in altered brain function,” said Younan, an observational research manager at drug-maker Amgen, who was at the University of Southern California at the time of the study.

The findings are based on an analysis of the effects of exposure to high levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, and nitrogen dioxide in women from across the United States, Younan and her colleagues said.

PM2.5 is a mixture of microscopic solid substances and liquid droplets found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot and smoke, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nitrogen dioxide is found in exhaust from motor vehicles, as well as emissions from the combustion of coal, oil or natural gas and various industrial sources, the agency says.

An estimated 90% of the global population lives in regions with PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide levels above the thresholds for human health established by the World Health Organization, the international body estimates.

In a study published in November, researchers in China found that exposure to high levels of air pollution increases a person’s risk for depression and adversely affects brain function.

A separate study published in August indicated that small increase in exposure to fine particle air pollution in Seattle increase local residents’ risk for dementia by 16%.

In addition, fine particulate matter such as PM2.5 has been linked with up to 4 million early deaths worldwide annually and has been described as “the greatest threat to human health.”

For this study, Younan and her colleagues assessed the cognitive, or brain, function of 2,239 women in the United States annually between 2008 and 2018, using standard tests.

None of the women in the study had been diagnosed with dementia at the start of the research, Younan and her colleagues said.

Participants’ performance on the tests was cross-referenced against changes in yearly average concentrations of outdoor air pollution for the regions in which they lived over a 15-year period, the researchers said.

Of the participants, 398, or 18%, developed dementia over the course of the study period, the researchers said.

Participants residing in locations that experienced larger reductions in PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide had a lower risk for dementia than those living in regions that saw less air quality improvement, the data showed.

Those living in areas that saw PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide levels in the air reduced by roughly 20% had a 20% lower risk for dementia, according to the researchers.

“The health benefits seen in our study were a result of decreasing levels of both PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide across the U.S., which were likely due to national policies and strategies aimed at regulating pollution,” Younan said.

“We think that continuing these regulatory efforts are important for improving brain health of older women,” she said.

Lowering air pollution reduces risk for dementia in older women, study finds – UPI.com
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Ozone pollution: Gas causes $63 billion damage per year to East Asian crops

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Respro® UK Ltd

Rising levels of ground-level ozone in China and nearby countries are having a big effect on the yields of staple crops such as wheat, rice and maize

Increasing concentrations of ground-level ozone in East Asia are causing ever more damage to crops. The relative fall in yields of wheat, rice and maize in China, Japan and South Korea is costing $63 billion a year, according to Zhaozhong Feng at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology in China and his colleagues.

Surface ozone concentrations in China have been rising by around 5 per cent a year, says Feng. “Such a fast increase of surface ozone has increased the ozone threat to crop yields,” he says.

Ozone is a highly reactive gas. Its presence in the stratosphere is beneficial as it blocks dangerous ultraviolet light, but ground-level ozone harms plants and animals.

Surface ozone forms when nitrogen oxides (NOx) react with volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Surface ozone levels have increased in many regions worldwide because of NOx pollution, mainly from vehicles. Crop yields have also generally risen due to improved methods and varieties, but they would be even higher without ozone.

Based on measurements from 3000 sites in China, Japan and South Korea, Feng’s team estimates that ozone pollution is causing relative yield losses of 33 per cent for wheat, 23 per cent for rice and 9 per cent for maize.

This is nearly double estimates from 2016. The increase is partly because ozone levels are now higher and partly because the researchers calculate that ozone does more damage than previously thought, says Feng.

The estimate of $63 billion-worth of crop losses is plausible, says Nigel Bell at Imperial College London. The huge impact of surface ozone has slowly been becoming clear, he says. “It’s something that gradually crept up on us.”

Because farming is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and continued land clearance for farms is causing habitat loss, the findings mean that ozone pollution is also indirectly leading to global warming and biodiversity loss. But the relationship between ozone and other air pollutants is complex, making it hard to tackle the problem in the short term.

One of the reasons ozone levels are rising in China is due to falling levels of particulate pollution, says Feng. Particulates reduce ozone by blocking sunlight and by inhibiting the chemical reactions that produce the gas.

What’s more, very high levels of nitrogen oxides consume ozone, says Feng, so reducing NOx pollution can increase ozone levels. “These processes together contribute to the fast increase of surface ozone in China,” he says.

Journal reference: Nature Food, DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00422-6

Ozone pollution: Gas causes $63 billion damage per year to East Asian crops | New Scientist
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