Hyderabad: An improvement in the concentration of Ozone from 26 ppb (parts per billion) to 56.4 ppb took place between the pre and post-lockdown periods, a city-based research found.
The improvement is a 115 per cent increase in the ozone gas over Hyderabad, stated a research conducted by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT).
“COVID-19 lockdown improved the air quality by the reduction in air pollutants leading to increased ozone concentration,” the comparative study during the pre and post-lockdown period with that of 2018 and 2019 figures, said.
Besides, the study also monitored the levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, along with temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation.
According to the research, while the concentration of nitrogen dioxide went down by 33.7 per cent, carbon monoxide went down by 27.5 per cent during the COVID-19- induced lockdown.
“This can be attributed to less movement of light motor vehicles, motorcycles and heavy-duty vehicles. It can be observed that the carbon monoxide concentration was at a peak at 11 am in the day in all three months,” said the research, which was taken up in collaboration with the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad.
