Title: Impact of COVID-19 restrictive precautions on air quality: case of Zonguldak, Turkey

Authors: Rabia Köklü; Burçin Atılgan Türkmen; Ece Ümmü Deveci; Çağdaş Gönen

Addresses: Department of Environmental Engineering, Sakarya University, Engineering Faculty, Sakarya, Turkey ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, Bilecik, Turkey ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversity, 51240 Niğde, Turkey ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Üniversity, 51240 Niğde, Turkey

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess how restrictive COVID-19 precautions affect air quality in Zonguldak, as well as to determine the relationship between air quality and meteorological variables under these conditions. Daily PM2.5, PM10, SO₂, and NO_x concentrations and meteorological data, from 1 March to 31 May 2018, 2019, and 2020 were collected for this research. During the 2020 restrictive COVID-19 precautions, it was determined that concentrations of air pollutants were different and low based on the 95% confidence interval by using paired t-test samples. Meteorological variables were found to be similar to previous years, and the correlation between them and air pollutants was found to be significant (P < 0.01) but low according to Pearson correlations. As a result, meteorological variables were determined to have no direct effect on the low concentrations of air quality emissions during the 2020 pandemic. The overall findings revealed that anthropogenic impact has a negative impact on air quality and the air quality had improved during the COVID pandemic. Furthermore, the restriction on the region's coalmines during the COVID-19 pandemic has significant impact on the improvement of air quality.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; air quality; PM10; PM2.5; NO_x; SO₂; Zonguldak; Turkey.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2022.125532

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2022 Vol.25 No.5, pp.406 - 426

Received: 17 Mar 2021
Accepted: 24 Nov 2021
Published online: 13 Sep 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article