Lebanese Ministry of Information
Latest study on nitrogen dioxide reinforces earlier research linking air pollutants and Covid-19 deaths
Regions of the world which have higher air pollution tended to experience more deaths from Covid-19, a new study has found.
Geoscientist Yaron Ogen, from Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, examined data from satellites which track nitrogen dioxide in the air, a known pollutant which causes respiratory problems.
Places where air is not being moved around tend to see more problems with air pollution, as pollutants remain closer to the ground and are breathed in more by locals.
Regions which experienced high numbers of coronavirus deaths did tend to have significant levels of nitrogen dioxide and low vertical air movement, Dr Ogen concluded.
Researchers at Harvard University in the United States analysed air pollution and deaths from Covid-19 across 3,000 counties in America and concluded even a tiny increase in fine-particulate pollution in the years before the pandemic even started led to a 15 per cent increase in death rates.
A separate study by the Universities of Siena in Italy and Aarhus in Denmark pointed to air pollution as a possible factor behind northern Italy’s coronavirus death rates. The regions of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna had saw about 12 per cent of Covid-19 infections end in death, compared to just 4.5 per cent in the rest of the country.
Doctors and other experts say it is too early to draw firm conclusions about the effects of air pollution on the coronavirus pandemic, but some researchers are already using the growing evidence to warn countries with particularly polluted air to take additional precautions.
“Since there is no lower threshold for harm for most air pollutants, any improvement in air quality brings real health benefits,” observed Alastair Lewis, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of York.
“In the midst of a respiratory health crisis such as this, better air quality can only have a small effect, but it will undoubtedly be positive, relative to business as usual levels of pollution.”
The Independent
