COVID-19 pandemisinin İstanbul'un Şile ilçesinde hava kalitesine (PM10) etkisi

Abstract

The first COVID-19 case in Turkey was approved on March 11, 2020. Based on the rapid spread feature of the Covid-19 pandemic, a partial lockdown was put into practice in the whole of İstanbul for weekends from 21st March to 1st June 2020 by the Government. The application of strict restriction precautions enabled to decrease the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Turkey National Health System while changing the social behaviors. On the other hand, these forced measures provided an opportunity to determine the impact of anthropogenic events on air quality based on controlling pollution levels. The main goal of the present study is to examine the effect of the partial lockdown precautions on the pattern of air quality in the Şile district of İstanbul. The analysis of the air quality was carried out with the aid of air quality data of the monitoring station in Şile that contains PM10 concentration. The results showed that an increase of approximately 16.90% in PM10 concentrations of Şile. This was ascribed with the increment of vehicle traffic due to the migration from other districts of İstanbul during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study presents useful supplements to indicate that the application of severe execution of air pollution control plans can heal the air quality.