Death rate rises in counties with high air pollution

[struggle4progress]

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN
Updated 7:36 PM ET, Tue April 7, 2020

... "We found that an increase of only 1 gram per cubic meter in fine particulate matter in the air was associated with a 15% increase in the Covid-19 death rate," said lead author Francesca Dominici, co-director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative.

The study defined high pollution levels as fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) levels above 13 micrograms per cubic meter of air, much higher than the US mean of 8.4.

"The results suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to experiencing the most severe Covid-19 outcomes," Dominici said ...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/07/health/covid-19-air-pollution-risks-wellness/index.html

[DBoon]

1. and Trump just weakened these standards

nt

[struggle4progress]

2. Air pollution linked to higher coronavirus death rates

By TONY BARBOZASTAFF WRITER
APRIL 8, 2020 6:24 AM

... Scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data on more than 3,000 U.S. counties to link small increases in long-term exposure to fine-particle pollution to substantially higher death rates from the coronavirus.

Researchers calculated long-term average levels of fine-particle pollution — lung-damaging soot also known as PM2.5 — from 2000 to 2016 and compared it to the more than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths that had occurred through April 4. They found that an increase of only one microgram per cubic meter of PM2.5 was associated with a 15% rise in the coronavirus death rate.

Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard and coauthor of the study, said her team fast-tracked its research in response to the surge in coronavirus deaths out of a “moral obligation” to help inform the response to the health crisis. The scientists released their manuscript before publication, while it undergoes peer review, and made public their data and code, hoping that it can be used worldwide to help focus research and prevent deaths ...

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-08/air-pollution-linked-to-higher-coronavirus-death-rates

[struggle4progress]

3. Air pollution linked to increased risk of death from covid-19

BY ARISTOS GEORGIOU ON 4/8/20 AT 6:54 AM EDT

.... Given that COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, most of the underlying conditions that increase the risk of death from the illness are the same conditions that are affected by long-term exposure to air pollution, the researchers say.

Numerous studies have linked long-term exposure to PM2.5 with a variety of health outcomes, including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, non-fatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeats, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and respiratory problems such as inflammation, airway irritations, coughing, or difficulty breathing.

These health problems arise from long-term exposure to fine particulate matter, such as PM2.5— tiny particles or liquid droplets in the atmosphere that can be inhaled. A Global Burden of Disease study published in 2016 found that 5.5 million people die prematurely around the world every year as a result of air pollution ...

https://www.newsweek.com/air-pollution-risk-death-covid-19-us-harvard-study-1496792

[JT45242]

4. Another bad example of correlation vs causality

Look at the map at the link.

The air pollution numbers are almost directly related to population density. Where are people more likely to have rapid spread of an airborne disease like Covid-19 -- where they are more closely populated.

Where have most of the deaths come from -- NYC -- which by its very nature will skew the results. (It has more population than a boatload of those low population states).

[struggle4progress]

7. They're not counting deaths, they're looking at death rates

[struggle4progress]

5. Research links air pollution to higher coronavirus death rates

April 7, 2020 at 6:13 am
Updated April 7, 2020 at 7:05 am
By LISA FRIEDMAN
The New York Times

... For weeks, public health officials have surmised a link between dirty air and death or serious illness from COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. The Harvard analysis is the first nationwide study to show a statistical link, revealing a “large overlap” between COVID-19 deaths and other diseases associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter.

“The results of this paper suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to experiencing the most severe COVID-19 outcomes,” the authors wrote.

The paper found that if Manhattan had lowered its average particulate matter level by just a single unit, or 1 microgram per cubic meter, over the past 20 years, the borough would most likely have seen 248 fewer COVID-19 deaths by this point in the outbreak.

Overall, the research could have significant implications for how public health officials choose to allocate resources like ventilators and respirators as the coronavirus spreads. The paper has been fast-tracked for peer review and publication in the New England Journal of Medicine ...

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/new-research-links-air-pollution-to-higher-coronavirus-death-rates/

[struggle4progress]

6. Air pollution linked to higher death rate

BY RYAN FONSECA IN NEWS ON APRIL 7, 2020 6:04 PM

... the effects of that pollution disproportionately harm Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans and low-income communities — which underscores early data showing black Americans are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 complications ...

https://laist.com/2020/04/07/coronavirus-air-pollution-harm-harvard-study.php