RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Air quality has been gradually improving in Rio de Janeiro and its metropolitan region since the quarantine came into effect on March 17th. A survey conducted by the State Environment Institute (INEA) in April and May showed a reduction in the release of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) into the atmosphere.
At the air quality monitoring station located in the Santa Cruz Industrial District, in the west zone of the city, the results show a 91 percent reduction in NO2 emissions in May, if compared to the period before social isolation.
In Duque de Caxias, the largest city in the suburban Baixada Fluminense, the NO2 concentration decreased 47 percent. In Volta Redonda, some 75 kilometers west of Rio, where the Volta Redonda Steel Company (CSN) is based, the nitrogen dioxide reduction was 23 percent.
The concentration of carbon monoxide also decreased. In the Engenho de Dentro district, in the north zone of Rio, there was a 55 percent decrease in this pollutant, while in Santa Cruz, in the west zone of the city, the decrease was 32 percent.
For INEA’s Director of Water Safety and Environmental Quality, Hélio Vanderlei, this result can be considered a consequence of social distancing. “The reduction of industrial activities and urban mobility enabled an improvement in air quality”.
NO2 is emitted mainly by burning fuel, in vehicles and industrial activities. According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), it is increasingly associated with cases of bronchitis, asthma and respiratory infections. CO is emitted from the burning of automobile fuel.
The INEA monitors air quality at 58 stations that continuously measure meteorological parameters and the levels of pollutants spread in the air. The pollutants analyzed are nitrogen oxide (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and hydrocarbons; volatile organic compounds such as benzene; and solid and liquid microparticles suspended in the air.
Source: Agência Brasil
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