The Effect of Covid 19 Movement Control Order (MCO) on Air Quality of Industrial Area in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia has recorded its first COVID-19 positive case on the 25th of January 2020 started with the 3 Chinese nationals that have close contact with the infected person in Singapore. Since then, the number of cases has rapidly expanded, specifically in March 2020. Due to that, the government of Malaysia has declared the application of Movement Control Order (MCO) that aims to segregate the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak [2]. The lockdown has led to stupendous economic loss to Malaysia however, it has come as a reprieve to the environment. Employ the air pollution index (API) data recorded during this inauspicious time, this study is undertaken to evaluate the impact of lockdown on the air quality of few industrial areas in Malaysia which are Klang, Kulim Hi-Tech, and Shah Alam. The API data was acquired from the Department of Environment (DOE) [3] under the Ministry of Environment and Water. We compared air quality data from the early phase of MCO which is from March 18, 2020, to May 4, 2020, with a simultaneous period in the early months of 2020 to determine the changes in pollutant concentrations during the lockdown, analyzing daily API data for six pollutants (SO2, NO2, CO, O3, PM2.5, and PM10). The results show a reduction in the air pollution index in all of the industrial areas. The reducing rate was 10.33% for Kulim Hi-Tech, 5.67% for Shah Alam while for Klang 5.17%. Overall, the average reducing rate was only 7.05% for all three locations. Even though the percentage of reduction of API is not very high in each of the areas but it makes a positive effect on the environment.