Exposure to air pollution may increase risk of Covid death, major study says
Long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of death from Covid-19, according to a large study by the Office for National Statistics.
It analysed more than 46,000 coronavirus deaths in England and showed that a small, single-unit increase in people’s exposure to small-particle pollution over the previous decade may increase the death rate by up to 6%. A single-unit increase in nitrogen dioxide, which is at illegal levels in most urban areas, was linked to a 2% increase in death rates.
These increases are smaller than found in other research; a US study found an 8% increase and an analysis of the Netherlands found a 15% rise. This may be because those studies assessed earlier stages of the pandemic when the virus was mostly spreading in cities.
Data is so far only available as averages for groups of people and the ONS said this meant no definitive conclusion on the link between dirty air and the worst impacts of Covid-19 could yet be made. Instead, individual-level data would have to be examined to rule out other possible factors. The ONS has begun this work for patients in London.
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