Covid-19: Air pollution linked to greater risk of being hospitalised with virus, experts say
Experts have found a link between a person’s exposure to air pollution and the severity with which they will experience the effects of COVID-19
Last updated 6th Sep 2021
A new report by researchers from Imperial College London, commissioned by the Mayor Sadiq Khan, has found a link between a person’s exposure to air pollution and the severity with which they will experience the effects of COVID-19.
Experts say this is most likely because air pollution contributes to people having heart or lung disease and they then become sicker from COVID-19 if they catch it.
There is growing evidence linking exposure to air pollution with the worst effects of COVID-19 and this new review, led by Imperial’s Environmental Research Group and commissioned through Imperial Projects, provides a comprehensive overview of the best recent evidence and shows some evidence that past exposure to toxic air leads to more severe cases of COVID-19.
The review confirmed that exposure to air pollution might increase the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 if a person is exposed to coronavirus.
This finding comes from a few studies that found that pollutants, once inhaled into the lungs of animals, increase the amounts of the protein that allows the coronavirus to attach to the lung cells. However, human population studies of air pollution and new cases were poor quality and inconclusive.
More widely, there is pre-existing evidence that exposure to air pollution increases susceptibility to, and worsens the outcome from, a range of infectious lung diseases, such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
Prof. Ally Lewis, Chair of the Government’s Air Quality Expert Group, said:
“It is becoming ever clearer that living in an environment with improved air quality would likely lead to better health outcomes when faced with COVID-19. The exact mechanisms are still not yet fully resolved yet, but sufficient evidence has been reviewed to be confident that long-term exposure to air pollution both increases risk of respiratory diseases and is responsible causing many other health conditions that make COVID-19 more severe.
"Air quality certainly isn’t the only factor that raises the risk of a poor outcome from COVID-19 but it is something we can take collective action on now through reducing our emissions.”
The Mayor of London believes it is clear from this emerging evidence that reducing air pollution is crucial to helping build resilience to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and it is vital we take bold action now to tackle poor air quality.
Sadiq Khan said:
“We already know that air pollution is linked to life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease and asthma. But until now previous studies have underestimated the role air pollution plays in infectious diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis and most recently COVID-19.
“This new review led by Imperial researchers makes it crystal clear that tackling air pollution is a vital part of building our resilience to COVID-19, and other infections like it. The decisions we make now to tackle air pollution are truly a matter of life and death.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the clear evidence showing the dangers of toxic air pollution. That’s why I’m committed to expanding the Ultra-Low Emission Zone next month, and why I will continue to take the bold action necessary to eradicate pollution from our city.”
Prof. Paul Plant, Public Health England’s deputy director for London, said:
“This is a welcome review of the literature with important tentative conclusions on the potential links between poor air quality and COVID-19. Poor air quality particularly affects people who are more vulnerable to respiratory harm including those with heart and lung disease, children and the elderly, and exacerbates health inequalities. Improving air quality is crucial to reducing the health impacts of air pollution across London and will help people live longer, healthier lives beyond the pandemic.”