Links between air pollution and COVID-19 in England

Travaglio, Marco; Yu, Yao; Popovic, Rebeka; Selley, Liza; Leal, Nuno Santos; Martins, L. Miguel

doi:10.1101/2020.04.16.20067405

Cited by 91 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…Similar observations are also observed in cities of China, India, Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands etc. where PM 2.5 levels are high (Cole et al 2020;Travaglio et al 2020).…”

Section: Relation Among Pm 25 Mediated Ace-2 Expression and Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Air pollution by NO2 and PM2.5 explains COVID-19 infection severity by overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in respiratory cells: a review

2020

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Many major cities that witnessed heavy air pollution by nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and particulate matter (PM) have experienced a high rate of infection and severity of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This phenomenon could be explained by the overexpression of the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) on epithelial cell surfaces of the respiratory tract. Indeed, ACE-2 is a receptor for coronaviruses including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV), and ACE-2 is overexpressed under chronic exposure to air pollution such as NO 2 and PM 2.5. In this review, we explain that ACE-2 acts as the sole receptor for the attachment of the SARS-CoV-2 via its spike protein. The fact that respiratory and vascular epithelial cells express ACE-2 has been previously observed during the 2003 epidemic of the SARS-CoV-1 in China, and during the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome in Saudi Arabia. High ACE-2 expression in respiratory epithelial cells under air pollution explains the positive correlation between the severity in COVID-19 patients and elevated air pollution, notably high NO 2 and PM 2.5 levels. Specific areas in India, China, Italy, Russia, Chile and Qatar that experience heavy air pollution also show high rates of COVID-19 infection and severity. Overall, we demonstrate a link between NO 2 emissions, PM 2.5 levels, ACE-2 expression and COVID-19 infection severity. Therefore, air pollution should be reduced in places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are unexpectedly high.

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“…Similar observations are also observed in cities of China, India, Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands etc. where PM 2.5 levels are high (Cole et al 2020;Travaglio et al 2020).…”

Section: Relation Among Pm 25 Mediated Ace-2 Expression and Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

Air pollution by NO2 and PM2.5 explains COVID-19 infection severity by overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in respiratory cells: a review

2020

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“…Recent scientific studies conducted in some countries and cities have examined the effects of the COVID pandemic on air pollution (Anjum 2020 ). Improvements in air quality were observed in China (He 2020 ), Italy (Lippi 2020 ), England (Travaglio 2020 ), Brazil (Nakada 2020 ; Dantas 2020 ), Kazakhstan (Kerimray 2020 ), India (Sharma 2020 ), and worldwide (Shrestha 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is the relationship between the coronavirus crisis and air pollution in Tunisia?

Chekir

Salem

2020

Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr

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Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated horror and panic around the world. Nevertheless, this terrible crisis is having a positive side effect: it is lowering pollution levels. The outbreak of the coronavirus has caused many governments to impose measures to slow the spread of the virus within populations, such as limiting population displacement, requesting social distancing and the isolation of individuals at home, and reducing industrial activity. In this work, we investigated the effects of governmental measures taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 on the concentrations of air pollutants over four Tunisian cities (Tunis, Sousse, Sfax, and Tataouine). Data on the average daily levels of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter during January, February, March, and April of 2020 were collected, treated, and analyzed for each city. Curves of average monthly pollutant concentrations from 1 January to 30 April for each city investigated showed that measures taken to reduce the spread of the virus had a substantial impact on emission levels: there were tremendous drops of 51% in NO2 and 52% in SO2 over Sfax City during March compared to those during January, while nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide levels dropped by about 38% and 42%, respectively, over Tunis City and by around 20% for Sousse. During the four months investigated, almost all of the pollutant concentrations showed a significant drop from mid-March. On 12 March, the Tunisian government imposed some individual and collective measures to protect the population from the virus, such as social distancing, limiting transportation, shutting down schools and universities, and reducing industrial activity. A general lockdown was brought in later. Thus, restricting human and industrial activities appeared to affect the air quality in Tunisia, leading to a marked improvement in the air quality index. Graphic abstract

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“…A potential explanation of this is that people with obesity heed the warnings issued by the CDC, and are extra careful in avoiding social contact, in line with the value expectancy concepts of the health belief model. 22 Other studies report that smoking or medicinal nicotine might be a protective factor against infection by SARS-CoV-2; 23 24,25 to include the outbreak rate as a potential confounding variable. Contrariwise, a better food environment is associated with a higher outbreak rate (5.996, [1.286; 10.706], p = 0.016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies suggest that exposure to pollution can suppress immune responses and proliferate the transmission of infectious diseases, 24 and that the COVID-19 mortality rate is associated with air pollution. 25 However, the impact of air pollution on the spread of COVID-19…”

Section: External Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Contextual Factors on the Initial Phases of the COVID-19 Outbreak across U.S. Counties

Messner

Payson

2020

Preprint

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Objectives.To examine the influence of county-and state-level characteristics on the initial phases of the COVID-19 outbreak across U.S. counties up to April 14, 2020. Methods. We used a statistical exponential growth model for the outbreak. Contextual factors at county-and state-level were simultaneously tested with a multilevel linear model. All data was publicly available. Results. Collectivism was positively associated with the outbreak rate. The racial and ethnic composition of counties contributed to outbreak differences, affecting Black/African and Asian Americans most. Counties with a higher median age had a stronger outbreak, as did counties with more people below the age of 18. Higher income, education, and personal health were generally associated with a lower outbreak. Obesity was negatively related to the outbreak. Smoking was negatively related, but only directionally informative. Air pollution was another significant contributor to the outbreak, but population density did not give statistical significance. Conclusions. Because of high intrastate and intercounty variation in contextual factors, policy makers need to target pandemic responses to the smallest subdivision possible, so that countermeasures can be implemented effectively.

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Links between air pollution and COVID-19 in England

Cited by 91 publications

References 50 publications

Air pollution by NO2 and PM2.5 explains COVID-19 infection severity by overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in respiratory cells: a review

Air pollution by NO2 and PM2.5 explains COVID-19 infection severity by overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in respiratory cells: a review

What is the relationship between the coronavirus crisis and air pollution in Tunisia?

The Influence of Contextual Factors on the Initial Phases of the COVID-19 Outbreak across U.S. Counties

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