Exposure to air pollution may increase risk of Covid death, major study says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/13/study-of-covid-deaths-in-england-is-latest-to-find-air-pollution-link

 

 

 Damian Carrington Environment editor
Thu 13 Aug 2020 08.02 EDT 

Long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of death from Covid-19, according to a large study by the Office for National Statistics.

It analysed more than 46,000 coronavirus deaths in England and showed that a small, single-unit increase in people’s exposure to small-particle pollution over the previous decade may increase the death rate by up to 6%. A single-unit increase in nitrogen dioxide, which is at illegal levels in most urban areas, was linked to a 2% increase in death rates.

These increases are smaller than found in other research; a US study found an 8% increase and an analysis of the Netherlands found a 15% rise. This may be because those studies assessed earlier stages of the pandemic when the virus was mostly spreading in cities.

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The ONS also found that air pollution could be a factor in explaining why people from BAME [Black, Asian, and minority ethnic] backgrounds suffer more from coronavirus.

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There are good reasons to suspect that air pollution worsens Covid-19. “Consistent exposure to air pollution is a known cause of breathing difficulties and other long-term conditions in the lungs and heart,” the ONS report said.

”Our data show that 35% of deaths involving Covid-19 had a respiratory or cardiovascular disease as the main pre-existing health condition.”

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Geraint Davies MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on air pollution, said: “The study neither proves nor disproves the hypothesis that air pollution worsens outcomes in Covid-19. However, we know air pollution leads to 62,000 premature deaths each year and weakens people prior to catching coronavirus.

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In July, the detailed and comprehensive Netherlands analysis concluded there was “compelling” evidence that air pollution significantly increases coronavirus infections, hospital admissions and deaths. There is also evidence from Europe, the US and China.

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Also in July, a study of 400 hospital patients in Birmingham linked the severe impacts of Covid-19 on people from ethnic minorities to air pollution and overcrowded and poor-standard homes.

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