Air pollution may be ‘key contributor’ to Covid-19 deaths – study

[FfFfFfFF 58,071]

High levels of air pollution may be “one of the most important contributors” to deaths from Covid-19, according to research.

The analysis shows that of the coronavirus deaths across 66 administrative regions in Italy, Spain, France and Germany, 78% of them occurred in just five regions, and these were the most polluted.

The research examined levels of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant produced mostly by diesel vehicles, and weather conditions that can prevent dirty air from dispersing away from a city. Many studies have linked NO2 exposure to health damage, and particularly lung disease, which could make people more likely to die if they contract Covid-19.

“The results indicate that long-term exposure to this pollutant may be one of the most important contributors to fatality caused by the Covid-19 virus in these regions and maybe across the whole world,” said Yaron Ogen, at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, who conducted the research. “Poisoning our environment means poisoning our own body, and when it experiences chronic respiratory stress its ability to defend itself from infections is limited.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/20/air-pollution-may-be-key-contributor-to-covid-19-deaths-study

[ADVENTURE 856]

Wouldn’t pollution just be more of a factor than key contributor? I mean more densely populated areas seem to have more deaths and the logical answer is just having more people around. And pollution of course will be worse in these areas. 

[joannesrats 26]

1 minute ago, ADVENTURE said:

Wouldn’t pollution just be more of a factor than key contributor? I mean more densely populated areas seem to have more deaths and the logical answer is just having more people around. And pollution of course will be worse in these areas. 

This was my first thought, too, but high pollution =/= high population density, necessarily. However, due to the nature of this pollution, it would make sense for it to be in higher population areas. 

But I do agree that it's probably just a correlation, not causation, between the amount of deaths and the amount of pollution as it is in densely populated areas anyways. 

[i medici 1,746]

2 minutes ago, ADVENTURE said:

Wouldn’t pollution just be more of a factor than key contributor? I mean more densely populated areas seem to have more deaths and the logical answer is just having more people around. And pollution of course will be worse in these areas. 

An academic article is always more nuanced than what the media will take away from it, i think the full article will explain something more closely to your reply

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4 minutes ago, joannesrats said:

This was my first thought, too, but high pollution =/= high population density, necessarily. However, due to the nature of this pollution, it would make sense for it to be in higher population areas. 

But I do agree that it's probably just a correlation, not causation, between the amount of deaths and the amount of pollution as it is in densely populated areas anyways. 

 

3 minutes ago, i medici said:

An academic article is always more nuanced than what the media will take away from it, i think the full article will explain something more closely to your reply

High NO2 concentration is significantly associated with respiratory mortality (Beelen et al., 2008; Chen et al., 2007; Hoek et al., 2013) and is also responsible for generating some harmful secondary pollutants such as nitric acid (HNO3) and ozone (O3) (Khoder, 2002). As a result, the WHO has stated that the health risks may potentially occur due to the presence of NO2 or its secondary products (World Health Organization, 2003). Accordingly, the WHO understands the health issues arising from NO2 and suggests that the world population should be protected from exposure to this pollutant.

From the original academic article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720321215

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

Well...if you live in densely populated areas and major cities...pollution will be greater which will mean people have more chances of respiratory conditions, but even healthy people have been getting the virus, soooo...

[anonanon 932]

I'm pretty sure they adjusted for population size. From one of the Harvard papers they reference "We adjust by population size, hospital beds, number of individuals tested, weather, and socioeconomic and behavioral variables including, but not limited to obesity and smoking. We include a random intercept by state to account for potential correlation in counties within the same state."

[Woolfsmck 2,763]

1 hour ago, joannesrats said:

This was my first thought, too, but high pollution =/= high population density, necessarily. However, due to the nature of this pollution, it would make sense for it to be in higher population areas. 

But I do agree that it's probably just a correlation, not causation, between the amount of deaths and the amount of pollution as it is in densely populated areas anyways. 

A combination of population density and high pollution levels contribute not cause covid .  

Good point.

[ice bear 1]

That's good for Africa because they would be the most vulnerable