Exposure to air pollution might increase the likelihood of contracting Covid-19, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open on Wednesday
on Wednesday, adding to a growing body of research demonstrating the role air quality plays in the pandemic and the broader health costs of pollution.AFP via Getty ImagesExposure to some traffic-related air pollutants was associated with a greater likelihood of testing positive for Covid-19 in young adults, according to a Swedish study of 425 people who tested positive on a PCR test between May 2020 through March 2021.
The study estimated exposure to four pollutants—nitrogen oxides, black carbon and particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometers and 2.5 micrometers —based on participants’ home addresses, drawing from a cohort of more than 4,000 people born in Stockholm between 1994 and 1996 who have been monitored over time.
Exposure to PM10 and PM2.5 in the two days leading up to taking a test was linked with an increased risk of testing positive, the researchers found. There was also an elevated risk for those exposed to black carbon the day before testing but no link between exposure to nitrogen oxides and the risk of Covid infection.
The association was not linked to other factors like gender, smoking, being overweight or asthma, the researchers said, suggesting a “general association” of air pollution exposure to coronavirus infection.Erik Melén, professor of pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and one of the study’s authors, said the modest-sounding increase in risk might not sound much but it can be of “great significance to public health… given that everyone is more or less exposed to air pollutants.