A new scientific study by CNRS-Inserm confirms the correlation between peak mortality rates resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the level of fine particle pollution (PM2.5), reports the online journal Actu Environnement. The study results were published on July 29 this year. in Atmosphere magazine.
The study involved a statistical analysis of data from sixteen areas in Europe (inhabited by 81 million people) with various levels of PM2.5 dust pollution in the years 2020–2022. As reported, the analysis showed "a temporal relationship between peaks in PM2.5 exposure and COVID-19 mortality." The trends discovered differed in different locations. However, according to the authors, the average increase in mortality can be estimated at approximately 20-40% per µg/m3 of PM2.5 increase.
Read: Local governments want to strengthen their role in implementing programs aimed at improving air quality
Quoted by Actu Environnement, Éric Poincelet, co-author of the study and president of Pollutrack, an experiment involving counting PM2.5 particles in real time on the streets of Paris using laser technology, states that the cocktail of the virus and PM2.5 is dangerous for everyone - from infants to the elderly.
- Oxidative stress induced by fine particles does cause alveolar inflammation, which will likely facilitate the passage of the virus through the alveolar-capillary membrane, thus causing systemic damage sometimes with dramatic clinical consequences, explains Éric Poincelet.
As indicated in Actu Environnement, according to the study authors, it will be interesting to investigate "whether this correlation is specific to the coronavirus or whether it could be observed in other respiratory diseases such as influenza."
We have written many times about the impact of air pollution on health. The mechanism by which dust affects our body is known, as we discussed in an interview with Dr. n. med. Piotr Dąbrowiecki: About smog from a medical point of view, or why lung cancer kills Poles.
Full Article (Pl) : Teraz Srodowisko