Articles | Volume 23, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10145-2023
Research article
 | 
11 Sep 2023
Research article |  | 11 Sep 2023

Impact of 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns on particulate air pollution across Europe

Jean-Philippe Putaud, Enrico Pisoni, Alexander Mangold, Christoph Hueglin, Jean Sciare, Michael Pikridas, Chrysanthos Savvides, Jakub Ondracek, Saliou Mbengue, Alfred Wiedensohler, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Laurent Poulain, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Andreas Massling, Claus Nordstroem, Andrés Alastuey, Cristina Reche, Noemí Pérez, Sonia Castillo, Mar Sorribas, Jose Antonio Adame, Tuukka Petaja, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Jarkko Niemi, Véronique Riffault, Joel F. de Brito, Augustin Colette, Olivier Favez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Valérie Gros, Maria I. Gini, Stergios Vratolis, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Evangelia Diapouli, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Karl Espen Yttri, and Wenche Aas

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Cited articles

Altuwayjiri, A., Soleimanian, E., Moroni, S., Palomba, P., Borgini, A., De Marco, C., Ruprecht, A. A., and Sioutas, C.: The impact of stay-home policies during Coronavirus-19 pandemic on the chemical and toxicological characteristics of ambient PM2.5 in the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy, Sci. Total Environ., 758, 143582, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143582, 2021. 
Archer, C. L., Cervone, G., Golbazi, M., Al Fahel, N., and Hultquist, C.: Changes in air quality and human mobility in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic, B. Atmos. Sci. Technol., 1, 491–514, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42865-020-00019-0, 2020. 
Bekbulat, B., Apte, J. S., Millet, D. B., Robinson, A. L., Wells, K. C., Presto, A. A., and Marshall, J. D.: Changes in criteria air pollution levels in the US before, during, and after Covid-19 stay-at-home orders: Evidence from regulatory monitors, Sci. Total Environ., 769, 144693, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144693, 2021. 
Beloconi, A., Probst-Hensch, N. M., and Vounatsou, P.: Spatio-temporal modelling of changes in air pollution exposure associated to the COVID-19 lockdown measures across Europe, Sci. Total Environ., 787, 147607, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147607, 2021. 
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Short summary
Many European people are still exposed to levels of air pollution that can affect their health. COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 were used to assess the impact of the reduction in human mobility on air pollution across Europe by comparing measurement data with values that would be expected if no lockdown had occurred. We show that lockdown measures did not lead to consistent decreases in the concentrations of fine particulate matter suspended in the air, and we investigate why.
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