A U.S. wide study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health confirms correlation between COVID mortality and air pollution. Moreover PEW says ‘A one-microgram higher level of fine particle matter has around an 11% higher rate of COVID-19 mortality.’ We had been wondering could air pollution make us more vulnerable to COVID-19 for a while, and now we believe we have proof.
How Could Air Pollution Make Us More Vulnerable to Infection?
The British Lung Foundation says high levels of air pollution can irritate airways. It can also make us feel breathless and start coughing, or trigger an asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attack. Moreover, there’s also ‘good evidence’ it affects childhood lung development, and contributes to lung cancer.
T.H. Chan School predicts counties with higher pollution levels will have higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates. This underscores the importance of enforcing existing air pollution regulations, the team says. This is particularly important for public health during and after the pandemic crisis.
The Cruel Twist in the Tail of the Air Pollution – COVID Link
But the extent to which air pollution could make us more vulnerable to COVID-19 also depends on social factors. That’s because lower-income non-whites have 27% greater exposure to nitrogen dioxide than higher-income whites according to scientist Donghai Liang. He is a research assistant professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and co-authored the Chan School study.
This therefore means disadvantaged communities have a ‘double whammy’ explains Michael Benjamin. He is chief of the Air Quality Planning and Science Division at California Air Resources Board.
However, the society we live in, and its approach to air pollution puts us all in double jeopardy. ‘This because if you take two counties that are as similar as possible with all the things we can measure,’ Francesa Dominici says. ‘Then the county with a one-microgram higher level of fine particle matter has around an 11% higher rate of COVID-19 mortality.’ Francesca is professor of biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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Preview Image: World Air Pollution Map
T.H. Chan School Study Overview
