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Impacts of exposure to air pollution, radon and climate drivers on the COVID-19 pandemic in Bucharest, Romania: A time series study.
- Source :
-
Environmental research [Environ Res] 2022 Sep; Vol. 212 (Pt D), pp. 113437. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 18. - Publication Year :
- 2022
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Abstract
- During the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic disease, like several countries, Romania experienced a multiwaves pattern over more than two years. The spreading pattern of SARS-CoV-2 pathogens in the Bucharest, capital of Romania is a multi-factorial process involving among other factors outdoor environmental variables and viral inactivation. Through descriptive statistics and cross-correlation analysis applied to daily time series of observational and geospatial data, this study aims to evaluate the synergy of COVID-19 incidence and lethality with air pollution and radon under different climate conditions, which may exacerbate the coronavirus' effect on human health. During the entire analyzed period 1 January 2020-21 December 2021, for each of the four COVID-19 waves were recorded different anomalous anticyclonic synoptic meteorological patterns in the mid-troposphere, and favorable stability conditions during fall-early winter seasons for COVID-19 disease fast-spreading, mostly during the second, and the fourth waves. As the temporal pattern of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and its mutagen variants is affected by seasonal variability of the main air pollutants and climate parameters, this paper found: 1) the daily outdoor exposures to air pollutants (particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10, nitrogen dioxide-NO <subscript>2</subscript> , sulfur dioxide-SO <subscript>2</subscript> , carbon monoxide-CO) and radon - <superscript>222</superscript> Rn, are directly correlated with the daily COVID-19 incidence and mortality, and may contribute to the spread and the severity of the pandemic; 2) the daily ground ozone-O <subscript>3</subscript> levels, air temperature, Planetary Boundary Layer height, and surface solar irradiance are anticorrelated with the daily new COVID-19 incidence and deaths, averageingful for spring-summer periods. Outdoor exposure to ambient air pollution associated with radon is a non-negligible driver of COVID-19 transmission in large metropolitan areas, and climate variables are risk factors in spreading the viral infection. The findings of this study provide useful information for public health authorities and decision-makers to develop future pandemic diseases strategies in high polluted metropolitan environments.<br /> (Copyright © 2022 National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics INOE 2000. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1096-0953
- Volume :
- 212
- Issue :
- Pt D
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Environmental research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 35594963
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113437