Airborne Particulate Pollution alterations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Background: PM10 and PM2.5 exposures affect both short- and long-term health issues, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and asthma, and increase the rate of hospital admissions and mortality. Since the global COVID-19 pandemic, all countries worldwide have employed different preventive measures to minimize their infections. Objective: This study aimed to examine particulate matter air pollutants of different sizes (PM10 and PM2.5) throughout the COVID-19 crisis in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and to indicate local air pollution variation during the COVID-19 national emergency response actions period compared to last year's levels. Methodology: This research paper examined evidence-based procedures designed for population safety during the COVID-19 pandemic released by the Saudi Ministry of Health. Twenty-four-hour PM10 and PM2.5 sampling was performed using a mini volume sampler (Airmetrics, USA) at five sampling areas over Makkah. The study was completed for one year, from March 2020 to August 2021. Conclusion: This study validates that COVID-19 recovery plans should emphasize the evolution to a more sustainable post-COVID-19 lifestyle. Our study showed a significant reduction in monthly average PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, by about 65% and 66.6%, respectively, during quarantine, social distancing, the suspension of work and schools, and limitations of Umrah and Hajj. Moreover, our study highlighted the health co-benefits from the suppression actions, which might decrease air-pollution-caused COVID-19 mortality and daily new cases. Both perceptions of air pollution throughout the pandemic underline the significant role of anthropogenic emissions. More studies are required to investigate the association between COVID-19 and air pollution.References
Abdullah A.Algaissi, Naif K, Mazen H, Anwar M. Preparedness and response to COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: Building on MERS experience. Journal of Infection and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.04.016
Adly H.M., Imad A. AlJahdali, Mohammed A. Garout, Abdullah A. khafagy, Abdulla A. Saati, Saleh A. K. Saleh. (2020) Correlation of COVID-19 pandemic with healthcare system response and prevention measures in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Envirobnental Research and Public Health. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6666
Air Quality News. Why air pollution is linked to a faster spread of coronavirus.2020. Available in: https://airqualitynews. com/2020/04/09/why-air-pollution-is-linked-to-a-faster-spread-of-coronavirus.
AirBase: public air quality database [online database]. Copenhagen, European Environment Agency, 2012 (http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/airbase, 2012.
Al-Mandhari AS, Brennan RJ, Abubakar A, Hajjeh R. Tackling COVID-19 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Lancet. 2020;396(10265):1786-1788. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32349-7
Anas A.,Yousef M. Alsofayan,Ahmed A. Alahmari, Jalal M. Alowais, Abdullah R. Algwizani, Haleema A. Alserehi,Abdullah M. Assiri and Hani A. Jokhdar. COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: the national health response. WHO stories 2021.
Andrea P., Francesca D., Andy H.,Christian W.,Thomas Mu., and Jos L. Regional and global contributions of air pollution to risk of death from COVID-19. Cardiovascular Research (2020) 116, 2247–2253doi:10.1093/cvr/cvaa288
Beelen R et al. Long-term effects of traffic-related air pollution on mortality in a Dutch cohort (NLCS-AIR Study). Environmental Health Perspectives, 2008, 116(2):196–202.
Benjamin F. Zaitchi, Neville S., Joy Shumake-Guillemo, Andy M., Chris G., Aileen M., Juli T., Juerg L., Joel B., Swadhin B., Yonglong Lu., Jane O., Ken T., Jennifer D. Stowell. A framework for research linking weather, climate and COVID-19. Nature Communications. (2020) 11:5730 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-195467
Beverland IJ, Cohen GR, Heal MR, Carder M, Yap C, Robertson C, Hart CL, Agius RM. A comparison of short-term and long-term air pollution exposure associations with mortality in two cohorts in Scotland. Environ Health Perspect 2012;120,1280–1285
Bloomberg coronavirus tracker. October 2021. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution
Chen K, Wang M, Huang C, Kinney PL, Anastas PT. Air pollution reduction and mortality benefit during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Lancet Planet Health 2020; 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30107-8.
COVIDVax Live. October 2021. https://covidvax.live/location/sau
Cui, Y., Zhang, Z.-F., Froines, J., Zhao, J., Wang, H., Yu, S.-Z., Detels, R., 2003. Air pollution and case fatality of SARS in the People’s Republic of China: an ecologic study. Environ. Health 2, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-2-15
Eftim S, Dominici F. Multisite time-series studies versus cohort studies: methods, findings, and policy implications. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2005;68;1191–1205
Health relevance of particulate matter from various sources. Report of a WHO Workshop. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2007 (www.euro.who.int/document/ 2012.
Huang, J., Zhang, L., Liu, Xiaoyue, Wei, Y., Liu, C., Lian, X., Huang, Z., Chou, J., Liu, Xingrong, Li, X., Yang, K., Wang, J., Liang, H., Gu, Q., Du, P., Zhang, T., 2020c. Global prediction system for COVID-19 pandemic. Sci. Bull. https://doi.org/0.1016/j.scib.2020.08.002
IARC: diesel engine exhaust carcinogenic. Lyons, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2012 (Press release No. 213) http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/2012/mono105-info.php ,2012.
Jesse D., Keita E. Changes in U.S. air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Science of the Total Environment 739 (2020) 139864.
John Hopkins University COVID data – CSSE COVID-19 Data. October 2021
Kissler, S.M., Tedijanto, C., Goldstein, E., Grad, Y.H., Lipsitch, M., 2020. Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period. Science 368, 860–868. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb5793
Kraemer, M.U.G., Yang, C.-H., Gutierrez, B., Wu, C.-H., Klein, B., Pigott, D.M., du Plessis, L., Faria, N.R., Li, R., Hanage, W.P., Brownstein, J.S., Layan, M.,Vespignani, A., Tian, H., Dye, C., Pybus, O.G., Scarpino, S.V., 2020. The effect on human mobility and control measures on the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Science. 368, 493–497. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb4218, 80
Krewski D et al. Extended follow-up and spatial analysis of the American Cancer Society linking particulate air pollution and mortality. Boston, MA, Health Effects Institute, 2009
Liu C, Chen R, Sera F, Vicedo-Cabrera AM, Guo Y, Tong S, Coelho MSZS, Saldiva PHN, Lavigne E, Matus P, Valdes Ortega N, Osorio Garcia S, Pascal M, Stafoggia M, Scortichini M, Hashizume M, Honda Y, Hurtado-Dı´az M, Cruz J, Nunes B, Teixeira JP, Kim H, Tobias A, I´~niguez C, Forsberg B, A˚stro¨m C, Ragettli MS, Guo Y-L, Chen B-Y, Bell ML, Wright CY, Scovronick N, Garland RM, Milojevic A, Kysely J, Urban A, Orru H, Indermitte E, Jaakkola JJK, Ryti NRI, Katsouyanni K, Analitis A, Zanobetti A, Schwartz J, Chen J, Wu T, Cohen A, Gasparrini A, Kan H. Ambient particulate air pollution and daily mortality in 652 cities. N Engl J Med 2019;381:705–715
M. Urrutia-Pereiraa,M., Mello-da-Silvac, D. Soléb. COVID-19 and air pollution: A dangerous association? A point view. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr). 2020;48(5):496-499
MOH news. COVID-19 monitoring committee confirms number of recoveries has risen to 7798 Riyadh: Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia; 2020b https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/MediaCenter/News/Pages/News-2020-05-07-004
MOH news. MOH: COVID-19 vaccine to be received in phases [Internet]. Riyadh: Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia; 2020a. https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/Ministry/MediaCenter/News/Pages/News-2020-12-13-007
MOH, 2020. About command and control center [Internet]. Riyadh: Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health; 2020 https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/ccc/about/Pages/default
Our World Data. October 2021. https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/saudi-arabia
Pope CA III et al. Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2002, 287(9):1132–1141
Samoli E et al. Acute effects of ambient particulate matter on mortality in Europe and North America: results from the APHENA Study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2008, 116(11):1480–1486
Saudi Arabia Air Quality Index 2021.https://www.iqair.com/saudi-arabia
Setti, L., Passarini, F., Gennaro, G.D., Baribieri, P., Perrone, M.G., Borelli, M., Palmisani, J., Gilio, A.D., Torboli, V., Pallavicini, A., Ruscio, M., Piscitelli, P., Miani, A., 2020. SARSCov- 2 RNA Found on Particulate Matter of Bergamo in Northern Italy: First Preliminary Evidence. medRxiv 2020.04.15.20065995. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.15.20065995
Some non-heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and some related exposures. Lyons, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2010 (IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Vol. 92) http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/ 2012.
Stanek LW et al. Attributing health effects to apportioned components and sources of particulate matter: an evaluation of collective results. Atmospheric Environment, 2011, 45:5655–5663
UNICEF-WHO, 2020. At least 80 million children under one at risk of diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio as COVID-19 disrupts routine vaccination efforts, warn Gavi, WHO and UNICEF [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020 (https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-05-2020-atleast-80-million-children-under-one-at-risk-of-diseases-such-as-diphtheria-measles-and-polio-as-covid-19-disrupts-routine-vaccination-effortswarn-gavi-who-and-unicef
USEPA, Environmental Protection Agency. Particle Pollution and Your Health Report. August 2021. https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/pm-human-health.html
USEPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 2020. EPA announces enforcement discretion policy for COVID-19 pandemic [WWW document]. URL. US EPAhttps://www.epa.gov/ newsreleases/epa-announces-enforcement-discretion-policy-covid-19-pandemic
Venter ZS, Aunan K, Chowdhury S, Lelieveld J. COVID-19 lockdowns cause global air pollution declines. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2020; 117:18984–18990.
WHO 2006. World Health Organization. Air quality guidelines: global update 2005. Particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2006 (http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/environment-and-health/air-quality/publications - pre2009/air-quality-guidelines.-global-update-2005.-particulate-matter,-ozone nitrogen-dioxide-and-sulfur-dioxide, October 2012.
WHO 2020. World Health Organization. Operational planning guidelines to support country preparedness and response. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020 https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/draft-operational-planning-guidance-for-un-country-teams
WHO 2021. Health Cluster. COVID-19 response [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021 https://www.who.int/health-cluster/news-andevents/news/COVID19/en
WHO 2019. World Health Organization. (WHO) coronavirus data dashboard. https://covid19.who.int
WHO 2013. World Health Organization. Health effects of particulate matter Policy implications for countries in eastern Europe, Caucasus and central Asia 2013. https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/189051/Health-effects-of-particulate-matter-final-Eng.pdf
World Meter Data Coronavirus. October 2021. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus
Wu X, Nethery RC, Sabath B, Braun D, Dominici F. Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States. MedRxiv.2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054502
Wu, X., Nethery, R.C., Sabath, B.M., Braun, D., Dominici, F., 2020. Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States. Epidemiology https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054502
Zhao, Y., Zhang, K., Xu, X., Shen, H., Zhu, X., Zhang, Y., et al., 2020. Substantial changes in nitrogen dioxide and ozone after excluding meteorological impacts during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China. Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 402–408.
Copyright (c) 2022 Transylvanian Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
