Air pollution influences COVID transmission: Study

KERALA: According to a study published in the Environmental Research journal, air pollution has an indirect impact on the transmission of COVID-19 and the improvement in air quality during the lockdown may have reduced the chances of infection. This finding is based on a research paper titled ‘Potential link between compromised air quality and transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in affected areas’, by M.G. Manoj, M.K. Satheesh Kumar, K.T. Valsaraj, C. Sivan and Soumya K. Vijayan.

They belong to the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, Ernakulam; the Department of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Manipal, Karnataka; Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, Los Angeles, USA; and College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kannur, respectively.

The study concentrated on air quality-induced infection rates in central Kerala and other regional COVID hotspots, including China, Italy, and the United States. It claims one of the possible modes of COVID-19 transmission is through ambient air by droplets carrying the virus. This means the propagation of the infection can be affected by environmental changes. Air pollution is one of the factors which can change the environment. So, air pollution can be said to have an indirect effect on the transmission.

The dust particles exposed to humid environment have been contaminated with a film of water on it. There is a chance that the combination of saliva droplets and the dust mixed with the water film becomes more airborne and spreads the infection.

The researchers pointed out that in some areas the improvement in air quality during the lockdown period may have prevented the transmission of the infection. The hypothesis would help design protocols for prevention of future pandemics, they added.