Table 1.

An overview of the COVID-19 complex impacts (+or -) on multiple exposure areas of the environment across the world.

Areas/Sectors	Impact on the environment	Findings	References
Air quality	Positive	Reduction of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and CO concentrations were reduced during the lockdown.	[72]
	Negative	O3 concentrations increased by around 50%
Surface water	Negative	The existence of almost all enteric viruses, result in surface water contamination	[73]
	Negative	Detection of disinfection by products due to excessive disinfectant use	[49,74,75]
Groundwater	Positive	Reduction of As, Se, Pb, and Fe in industrial waste during COVID-19 lockdown.	[76]
		NO3 and coliform reduced due to the closure of industrial activities including fisheries.
WWTP's	Negative	SARS-CoV-2 RNA was quantified in wastewater treatment plants in various countries (Australia, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, India, Netherland, Japan, Spain, Turkey, and the USA). Leakage and defects in the sewer supply was identified as the transmission mode for SARS.	[1,3,17,39,52,77]
	Negative	Detection of disinfection by products due to excessive disinfectant use	[78,79]
Surface Soil contamination	Negative	At least one enteric pathogens were detected in 96% of soil samples.	[80]
Agriculture sector	Negative	Negatively impact harvesting, resulting in crop losses and reduce the supply of fruits and vegetables	[81]
Solid Waste Management sector	Negative	Improper disposal of medical, household, and other hazardous waste-laden pathogens, thereby threatening to the terrestrial environment	[38,82]