ArticleThe Science of the total environment2020
Reductions in traffic-related black carbon and ultrafine particle number concentrations in an urban neighborhood during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in The Science of the total environment, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Air Quality: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Asthma Incidence.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2025Review
- Five-year trend analysis of drug use among individuals 16 years of age and older injured in non-fatal motor vehicle crashes in the US.Traffic injury prevention · 2025Article
- The effect of quarantine policy on pollution emission and the usage of private transportation in urban areas.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Influence of Ventilation on Formation and Growth of 1-20 nm Particles via Ozone-Human Chemistry.Environmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Hyperlocal environmental data with a mobile platform in urban environments.Scientific data · 2023Article
- Source apportionment of PMUrban climate · 2023Article
- Characterization of size-fractionated carbonaceous particles in the small to nano-size range in Batam city, Indonesia.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Inferred vehicular emissions at a near-road site: Impacts of COVID-19 restrictions, traffic patterns, and ambient air temperature.Atmospheric environment (Oxford, England : 1994) · 2023Article
- The Role of Traffic Volume on Sound Pressure Level Reduction before and during COVID-19 Lockdown Measures-A Case Study in Bochum, Germany.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Concentration and size distribution of atmospheric particles in southern Italy during COVID-19 lockdown period.Atmospheric environment (Oxford, England : 1994) · 2023Article
- Impact of traffic on air pollution in a mid-sized urban city during COVID-19 lockdowns.Air quality, atmosphere, & health · 2023Article
- Spatiotemporal Analysis of Black Carbon Sources: Case of Santiago, Chile, under SARS-CoV-2 Lockdowns.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Quantifying diurnal changes in NOHygiene and environmental health advances · 2022Article
- Australia 6 months after COVID-19 restrictions- part 1: Changes to travel activity and attitude to measures.Transport policy · 2022Article
- Understanding Air Quality Changes after Implementation of Mitigation Measures during a Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Literature in the United States.Aerosol and air quality research · 2022Article
- Changes in Ultrafine Particle Concentrations near a Major Airport Following Reduced Transportation Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Environmental science & technology letters · 2022Article
- Significant reduction of ultrafine particle emission fluxes to the urban atmosphere during the COVID-19 lockdown.The Science of the total environment · 2022Article
- People living in disadvantaged areas faced greater challenges in staying active and using recreational facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Health & place · 2022Article
- Black carbon-climate interactions regulate dust burdens over India revealed during COVID-19.Nature communications · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We investigated changes in traffic-related air pollutant concentrations in an urban area during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in a mixed commercial-residential neighborhood in Somerville (MA, USA), where traffic is the dominant source of air pollution. Measurements were made between March 27 and May 14, 2020, coinciding with a dramatic reduction in traffic (71% drop in car and 46% drop in truck traffic) due to business shutdowns and a statewide stay-at-home advisory. Indicators of fresh vehicular emissions (ultrafine particle number concentration [PNC] and black carbon [BC]) were measured with a mobile monitoring platform on an interstate highway and major and minor roadways. Our results show that depending on road class, median PNC and BC contributions from traffic were 60-68% and 22-46% lower, respectively, during the lockdown compared to pre-pandemic conditions, and corresponding reductions in total on-road concentrations were 45-69% and 22-56%, respectively. A higher BC: PNC concentration ratio was observed during the lockdown period likely indicative of the higher fraction of diesel vehicles in the fleet during the lockdown. Overall, the scale of reductions in ultrafine particle and BC concentrations was commensurate with the reductions in traffic. This natural experiment allowed us to quantify the direct impacts of reductions in traffic emissions on neighborhood-scale air quality, which are not captured by the regional regulatory-monitoring network. These results underscore the importance of measurements of appropriate proxies for traffic emissions at relevant spatial scales. Our results are useful for exposure analysis as well as city and regional planners evaluating mitigation strategies for traffic-related air pollution.
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Registered trials
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