Associations between mortality from COVID-19 in two Italian regions and outdoor air pollution as assessed through tropospheric nitrogen dioxide.
Sci Total Environ
; 760: 143355, 2021 Mar 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-907093
ABSTRACT
After the appearance of COVID-19 in China last December 2019, Italy was the first European country to be severely affected by the outbreak. The first diagnosis in Italy was on February 20, 2020, followed by the establishment of a light and a tight lockdown on February 23 and on March 8, 2020, respectively. The virus spread rapidly, particularly in the North of the country in the 'Padan Plain' area, known as one of the most polluted regions in Europe. Air pollution has been recently hypothesized to enhance the clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, acting through adverse effects on immunity, induction of respiratory and other chronic disease, upregulation of viral receptor ACE-2, and possible pathogen transportation as a virus carrier. We investigated the association between air pollution and subsequent COVID-19 mortality rates within two Italian regions (Veneto and Emilia-Romagna). We estimated ground-level nitrogen dioxide through its tropospheric levels using data available from the Sentinel-5P satellites of the European Space Agency Copernicus Earth Observation Programme before the lockdown. We then examined COVID-19 mortality rates in relation to the nitrogen dioxide levels at three 14-day lag points after the lockdown, namely March 8, 22 and April 5, 2020. Using a multivariable negative binomial regression model, we found an association between nitrogen dioxide and COVID-19 mortality. Although ecological data provide only weak evidence, these findings indicate an association between air pollution levels and COVID-19 severity.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Air Pollutants
/
Air Pollution
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
/
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Sci Total Environ
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.scitotenv.2020.143355
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