Impact of COVID -19 pandemic lockdown on distribution of inorganic pollutants in selected cities of Nigeria

The COVID-19 global pandemic has necessitated some drastic measures to curb its spread. Several countries around the world instituted partial or total lockdown as part of the control measures for the pandemic. This presented a unique opportunity to study air pollution under reduced human activities. In this study, we investigated the impact of the lockdown on air pollution in three highly populated and industrious cities in Nigeria. Compared with historical mean values, NO(2) levels increased marginally by 0.3% and 12% in Lagos and Kaduna respectively. However, the city of Port Harcourt saw a decrease of 1.1% and 215.5% in NO(2) and SO(2) levels respectively. Elevated levels of O(3) were observed during the period of lockdown. Our result suggests that there are other sources of air pollution apart from transportation and industrial sources. Our findings showed that the COVID-19-induced lockdown was responsible for a decrease in NO(2) levels in two of the locations studied. These results presents an opportunity for country wide policies to mitigate the impact of air pollution on the health of citizens.