However, in others, such as Italy, the PM concentrations remained unchanged or increased due to the lockdown in particular in urban sites located in the Padana Plain (Cameletti 2020 Gualtieri et al. Moreover, although to a lesser extent than NO 2, these measures also reduced particulate matter (PM) concentrations in many countries (e.g., Spain, Turkey, and Croatia) (Briz-Redón et al. In Europe, independently of the meteorological conditions, lockdown measures generally induced a decrease of NO 2 which is generally released by vehicular traffic. 2020) which, in some world areas, resulted in significant changes in air quality in terms of pollutant concentrations (Addas and Maghrabi 2021 Agarwal et al. On the contrary, the situation caused also a positive effect reducing noise and air pollutant emissions (Kumar et al. Some negative impacts were the impairment of waste recycling, the increase of medical waste production, and the overuse of disinfectants (Diffenbaugh et al. Worldwide, the implemented restriction measures led to both positive and negative impacts on the environment. In order to contain SARS-CoV-2 diffusion and social transmission, many countries around the world, including Italy, implemented restriction measures, such as lockdown, which involved social distancing, the use of facemasks, abolished travels between countries and cities, and imposed smart working and distance learning on schools and universities (Cowling and Aiello 2020 Deserti et al. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. In conclusion, the study confirms that PM biological effects cannot be assessed considering only the PM concentration and suggests to include a battery of bioassay for air quality monitoring in order to protect human health from air pollution effects.
PM extract effects decreased in some sites during 2020 this may be due to lockdowns that reduced/modified pollutant emissions and may be related also to complex PM origin/formation and to meteorological conditions. During lockdown months (2020), PM cytotoxicity/genotoxicity was significantly lower in some sites than during 2019, while considering PM mutagenicity/estrogenic activity some differences were detected but without statistical significance. No difference was observed for PM and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations between 20. Pollutant concentrations were also analyzed (PM 10, PM 2.5, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). Pools were extracted with organic solvents and extracts were tested to assess cytotoxicity (WST-1 assay) and genotoxicity (comet assay) on BEAS-2B cells, mutagenicity (Ames test) on TA98 and TA100 Salmonella typhimurium strains, and estrogenic activity (gene reporter assay) on MELN cells. The 2019 samples (pre-pandemic period) were pooled as 2020 for comparison. Daily PM samples collected in 2020 were pooled according to restrictions: January/February (no restrictions), March and April (first lockdown), May/June and July/August/September (low restrictions), October/November/December (second lockdown). This study evaluates the role of restrictions on biological effects of particulate matter (PM) in different Northwest Italy sites: urban background, urban traffic, rural, and incinerator. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, containment measures were applied inducing potential changes in air pollutant concentrations and thus in air toxicity.
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