Investigation of PM_(2.5) pollution during COVID-19 pandemic in Guangzhou,China

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about various environmental issues,includ-ing PM_(2.5) pollution.Here,PM_(2.5) pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was traced and an-alyzed to clarify the sources and factors influencing PM_(2.5) in Guangzhou,with an emphasis on heavy pollution.The lockdown led to large reductions in industrial and traffic emissions,which significantly reduced PM_(2.5) concentrations in Guangzhou.Interestingly,the trend of PM_(2.5) concentrations was not consistent with traffic and industrial emissions,as minimum concentrations were observed in the fourth period(3/01-3/31,22.45 μg/m^(3))of the lockdown.However,the concentrations of other gaseous pollutants,e.g.,SO_(2),NO_(2) and CO,were corre-lated with industrial and traffic emissions,and the lowest values were noticed in the sec-ond period(1/24-2/0_(3))of the lockdown.Meteorological correlation analysis revealed that the decreased PM_(2.5) concentrations during COVID-19 can be mainly attributed to decreased in-dustrial and traffic emissions rather than meteorological conditions.When meteorological factors were included in the PM_(2.5) composition and backward trajectory analyses,we found that long-distance transportation and secondary pollution offset the reduction of primary emissions in the second and third stages of the pandemic.Notably,industrial PM_(2.5) emis-sions from western,southern and southeastern Guangzhou play an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events.Our results not only verify the importance of control-ling traffic and industrial emissions,but also provide targets for further improvements in PM_(2.5) pollution.