Impact of COVID -19 pandemic lockdown on distribution of inorganic pollutants in selected cities of Nigeria
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Impact of COVID -19 pandemic lockdown on distribution of inorganic pollutants in selected cities of Nigeria I. A. Fuwape1,2 · C. T. Okpalaonwuka3 · S. T. Ogunjo4 Received: 23 June 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The COVID-19 global pandemic has necessitated some drastic measures to curb its spread. Several countries around the world instituted partial or total lockdown as part of the control measures for the pandemic. This presented a unique opportunity to study air pollution under reduced human activities. In this study, we investigated the impact of the lockdown on air pollution in three highly populated and industrious cities in Nigeria. Compared with historical mean values, NO2 levels increased marginally by 0.3% and 12% in Lagos and Kaduna respectively. However, the city of Port Harcourt saw a decrease of 1.1% and 215.5% in NO2 and SO2 levels respectively. Elevated levels of O3 were observed during the period of lockdown. Our result suggests that there are other sources of air pollution apart from transportation and industrial sources. Our findings showed that the COVID-19-induced lockdown was responsible for a decrease in NO2 levels in two of the locations studied. These results presents an opportunity for country wide policies to mitigate the impact of air pollution on the health of citizens. Keywords Air quality · COVID-19 · Pollution
Introduction Pollution poses a significant threat to human health and the world at large. Diseases like cancer, respiratory diseases, negative pregnancy outcomes, infertility, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cognitive decline have been attributed to air pollution (Sweileh et al. 2018). Inorganic air pollutants
I. A. Fuwape
[email protected] C. T. Okpalaonwuka [email protected] S. T. Ogunjo [email protected] 1
Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
2
Present address: Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, Nigeria
3
Department of Physics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
4
Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
include ozone (O3 ), airborne lead (Pb), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur oxides (SOx), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) (Sweileh et al. 2018). Ozone (O3 ) is present in the troposphere, as well as in the stratosphere. Tropospheric ozone is formed when nitrogen oxides (NOx) from fossil fuel burning sources like power plants and automobiles undergo chemical reactions with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from gasoline and solvents in the presence of sunlight. The free oxygen atoms combine with oxygen molecules. Tropospheric ozone is both a greenhouse gas and air pollutant. It causes respiratory diseases such as dyspnea, upper airway irritation, coughing and chest tightness (Chen et al. 2007b). Stratospheric ozone, which is about 90% of the ozone in the atmosphere, acts as a protective shield because it absorbs the ultraviolet radiation from the sun (Langematz 2019). Exposu
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