Distribution and temporal variation of total volatile organic compounds concentrations associated with health risk in Punjab, India
Loading...
Date
2023-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak occurred due to a human respiratory virus
that originated in the city of Wuhan, China. During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a significant improve ment in the air quality across the world. We analyzed the data for BTEX over the three years (January to
December 2019 to 2021) with pairwise comparison and trend analysis for pre-, during, and post-pandemic pe riods. This study demonstrates the substantial changes in the concentration of VOCs in the urban area (Punjab)
due to the lockdown effects. The results indicate a substantial reduction in the mean TVOCs concentration for all
the monitoring stations was found to be 8.89 ± 1.80, 5.59 ± 1.71, and 5.57 ± 1.43 μg/m3 for before, during, and
post-pandemic, respectively. The level of TVOCs declined by − 43% for all monitoring stations during the
lockdown period compared to the previous years. A higher T/B ratio was found in Patiala (2.97 μg/m3
) before
the pandemic, which may indicate vehicle emission sources. The LCR values for benzene were found to be higher
in children than in males and females, which indicated the possible risk. The LCR values for benzene exceeded
the prescribed value by CPCB for children.