Covid-19: pollution, a potential cofactor of deaths linked to Covid-19

A study estimates that pollution increases Covid-19-related deaths by 15% worldwide. It is international, comprising American, German and English researchers. They tried to measure the risk of dying from Covid-19 associated with polluted and inhaled air.

The results were published in the scientific journal “Cardiovascular Research”And scientists are trying to alert governments. Although they already know that pollution is harmful to human health, they now claim that it is a cofactor that increases the risk of death from Covid-19. The study’s authors conclude that about 15% of deaths worldwide linked to Covid-19 could be linked to long-term exposure to air pollution. They specify that this rate would be 19% in Europe, 17% in North America and around 27% in East Asia.

Estimates of Covid-19 deaths associated with air pollution are different in different countries around the world. It is more or less the same in the Czech Republic (29%), in China (27%) and in Germany (26%). On the other hand, it is lower in Italy (15%) and Brazil (12%). The proportions are lowest in Israel (6%), Australia (3%) and New Zealand (1%). In France, the estimate is 18%. To illustrate these rates, scientists give the example of the United Kingdom “around 44,000 people have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic until mid-June. We estimate that the proportion due to air pollution was 14%, which corresponds to nearly 6,000 deaths. In the United States, 220,000 deaths from COVID, or 18%, have resulted in nearly 40,000 deaths from air pollution. “However, the authors insist:“Although our results are uncertain, the contribution of air pollution to COVID-19 mortality is clear. However, the actual mortality is influenced by many factors, such as the country’s health system”.

The world’s population is exposed to fine and polluting particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5). These particles are harmful, as the researchers tell us: “When people inhale polluted air, very small, harmful fine dust particles migrate from the lungs to the blood and into the blood vessels.”, Causing“inflammation and strong oxidative stress, which disrupts the balance between free radicals and oxidizing agents that normally repair cell damage”. In fact, on the surface of cells is the ACE-2 receptor, a protein essential for the SARS-Cov-2 virus to penetrate the healthy cells of its host. However, pollution, and in particular fine particles, seem to increase the activity of this ACE-2 receptor. Therefore, scientists conclude on the poor association of Covid-19 and air pollution: “pollution damages the lungs and increases the activity of ACE-2, which leads to increased uptake of the virus by lungs.” They end up issuing a warning message to politicians, reminding them that there is “no vaccine against poor air quality and climate change”. The way to reduce emissions is to opt for a healthier environment, through ecology and the green economy.