tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Environ Adv
. 2022 Oct;9:100280.
doi: 10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100280. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
Independent associations of short- and long-term air pollution exposure with COVID-19 mortality among Californians
Brittney Marian[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ying Yan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Zhanghua Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fred Lurmann[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kenan Li[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Frank Gilliland[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sandrah P Eckel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Erika Garcia[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
The growing literature demonstrating air pollution associations on COVID-19 mortality contains studies predominantly examining long-term exposure, with few on short-term exposure, and rarely both together to estimate independent associations. Because mechanisms by which air pollution may impact COVID-19 mortality risk function over timescales ranging from years to days, and given correlation among exposure time windows, consideration of both short- and long-term exposure is of importance. We assessed the independent associations between COVID-19 mortality rates with short- and long-term air pollution exposure by modeling both concurrently. Using California death certificate data COVID-19-related deaths were identified, and decedent residential information used to assess short- (4-week mean) and long-term (6-year mean) exposure to particulate matter <2.5µm (PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB]), nitrogen dioxide (NO[SUB]2[/SUB]), and ozone (O[SUB]3[/SUB]). Negative binomial mixed models were fitted on weekly census tract COVID-19 mortality adjusting for potential confounders with random effects for county and census tract and an offset for population. Data were evaluated separately for two time periods March 16, 2020-October 18, 2020 and October 19, 2020-April 25, 2021, representing the Spring/Summer surges and Winter surge. Independent positive associations with COVID-19 mortality were observed for short- and long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] in both study periods, with strongest associations observed in the first study period: COVID-19 mortality rate ratio for a 2-μg/m[SUP]3[/SUP] increase in long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] was 1.13 (95%CI:1.09,1.17) and for a 4.7-μg/m[SUP]3[/SUP] increase in short-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] was 1.05 (95%CI:1.02,1.08). Statistically significant positive associations were seen for both short- and long-term NO[SUB]2[/SUB] in study period 1, but short-term NO[SUB]2[/SUB] was not statistically significant in study period 2. Results for long-term O[SUB]3[/SUB] indicate positive associations, however, only marginal significance is achieved in study period 1. These findings support an adverse effect of long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] and NO[SUB]2[/SUB] exposure on COVID-19 mortality risk, independent of short-term exposure, and a possible independent effect of short-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB].
Keywords: Air pollution; COVID; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; Mortality; NO2, nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen dioxide; Ozone; PM10, particulate matter < 10 µm; PM2.5, particulate matter < 2.5 µm; Particulate matter; SD, standard deviation.
. 2022 Oct;9:100280.
doi: 10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100280. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
Independent associations of short- and long-term air pollution exposure with COVID-19 mortality among Californians
Brittney Marian[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ying Yan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Zhanghua Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fred Lurmann[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Kenan Li[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Frank Gilliland[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sandrah P Eckel[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Erika Garcia[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35966412
- PMCID: PMC9361629
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2022.100280
Abstract
The growing literature demonstrating air pollution associations on COVID-19 mortality contains studies predominantly examining long-term exposure, with few on short-term exposure, and rarely both together to estimate independent associations. Because mechanisms by which air pollution may impact COVID-19 mortality risk function over timescales ranging from years to days, and given correlation among exposure time windows, consideration of both short- and long-term exposure is of importance. We assessed the independent associations between COVID-19 mortality rates with short- and long-term air pollution exposure by modeling both concurrently. Using California death certificate data COVID-19-related deaths were identified, and decedent residential information used to assess short- (4-week mean) and long-term (6-year mean) exposure to particulate matter <2.5µm (PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB]), nitrogen dioxide (NO[SUB]2[/SUB]), and ozone (O[SUB]3[/SUB]). Negative binomial mixed models were fitted on weekly census tract COVID-19 mortality adjusting for potential confounders with random effects for county and census tract and an offset for population. Data were evaluated separately for two time periods March 16, 2020-October 18, 2020 and October 19, 2020-April 25, 2021, representing the Spring/Summer surges and Winter surge. Independent positive associations with COVID-19 mortality were observed for short- and long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] in both study periods, with strongest associations observed in the first study period: COVID-19 mortality rate ratio for a 2-μg/m[SUP]3[/SUP] increase in long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] was 1.13 (95%CI:1.09,1.17) and for a 4.7-μg/m[SUP]3[/SUP] increase in short-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] was 1.05 (95%CI:1.02,1.08). Statistically significant positive associations were seen for both short- and long-term NO[SUB]2[/SUB] in study period 1, but short-term NO[SUB]2[/SUB] was not statistically significant in study period 2. Results for long-term O[SUB]3[/SUB] indicate positive associations, however, only marginal significance is achieved in study period 1. These findings support an adverse effect of long-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB] and NO[SUB]2[/SUB] exposure on COVID-19 mortality risk, independent of short-term exposure, and a possible independent effect of short-term PM[SUB]2.5[/SUB].
Keywords: Air pollution; COVID; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; Mortality; NO2, nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen dioxide; Ozone; PM10, particulate matter < 10 µm; PM2.5, particulate matter < 2.5 µm; Particulate matter; SD, standard deviation.