The impacts of COVID-19, meteorology, and emission control policies on PM drops in Northeast Asia.

In January 2020, anthropogenic emissions in Northeast Asia reduced due to the COVID-19 outbreak. When outdoor activities of the public were limited, PM concentrations in China and South Korea between February and March 2020 reduced by - 16.8 μg/m and - 9.

Modeling the effects of pollutant emissions from large industrial complexes on benzene, toluene, and xylene concentrations in urban areas.

This study utilized the Community Multiscale Air Quality model to simulate the spatial distribution of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) concentrations from large national industrial complexes (IC) located in the Ulsan metropolitan region (UMR). Through controlling pollutant emissions from major IC, this study performed a quantitative analysis of the influence of pollutant emissions on BTX concentrations in surrounding urban areas. The results showed that approximately 40% of the annual average BTX concentrations in nearby urban grids were directly influenced by pollutant emissions from the IC.