As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, certain geographical regions around the world are experiencing relatively higher levels of mortality from Covid-19. While there are many unknowns as to why some regions have higher death rates, one important reason is air pollution levels. A high presence of air pollution in populated regions is a cause for chronic respiratory illness due to accumulated exposure. This causes people with underlying respiratory illnesses to be among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus.
According to a new a study conducted by Harvard University researchers, the increased presence of micro air pollutant labeled as PM2.5, which is emitted from vehicle exhaust and coal power plants, has recently been connected to an increase in chances of dying from the virus. The researchers studied a sample from 3,000 counties in the US consisting of 98% of the US population. The study showed that counties averaging only a microgram per cubic meter more of PM2.5 in the air had a 15% higher Covid-19 death rate. A similar study in Italy, conducted by environmental scientist Dario Caro at Aarhus University in Denmark and health researchers Prof. Bruno Frediani and Dr. Eduardo Conticini at the University of Siena in Italy, also made the correlation between atmospheric pollution and the mortality rate of the coronavirus. Their research focused on two of the worst affected regions by Covid-19 in northern Italy, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna, which are also two of the most air-polluted regions within Europe.
These studies help explain why certain geographical regions experience higher mortality rates from the coronavirus. In the US, for the past several weeks a major hotspot of the coronavirus has been in the state of New York, and within the state another hotspot has been New York City. When looking at New York City, and more specifically Manhattan, the Harvard analysis predicts that an average of 248 deaths related to Covid-19 could have been prevented by just a single unit reduction in the borough’s average particulate matter level. In Italy, the study shed light on why Northern Italy has been harder hit than the rest of the country. Caro states, “All over the world, we’re seeing different approaches from countries’ authorities, in countries’ general public health outset and in the standards and readiness of different countries’ national healthcare systems. But this doesn’t explain the prevalence and mortality rates that we’re seeing in northern Italy compared with the rest of Italy. This feeds hope that we may have found yet another factor in understanding the high mortality rate of the disease in northern Italy.”
Now that it is clear that increased air pollution levels lead to a higher death rate from Covid-19, a critical question is to determine which populations are most vulnerable. Though there are additional factors that contribute to a region having a high mortality rate due to the virus, such as density and level of precaution, living in a region with high-levels of air pollution contributes immensely. For example, a small parish in Louisiana, St John the Baptist Parish, has been a big news story this week, as it now has the highest death rate per capita for Covid-19 in the country. But, why? With a population size of around 43,000, density is not part of the answer as it is in a hotspot like New York City. However, the parish is home to a group of chemical plants and oil refineries, which has caused high levels of air pollution in the parish for years. Though the reasons for the high death rate in St John parish is a topic of controversy to many in the community, the recent studies point to air pollution as the likely culprit. Residents who have long protested the polluted air, have taken to protesting as a way to express their anger at the high death-rate in their parish.
While we still have a lot to learn about the coronavirus, the Harvard and Italy studies illustrate that air-pollution contributes to the severity of the disease and explains higher mortality rates in certain regions that have a higher level of air pollution. Therefore, these regions need to take even more care to prevent the spread of the disease in their communities. Longer-term, we as a society need to address high levels of air pollution as a public health concern in our communities.
