Impact of Different Air Pollutants (PM 10, PM 2.5, NO 2, and Bacterial Aerosols) on COVID-19 Cases in Gliwice, Southern Poland

Ewa Brągoszewska and Anna Mainka ()
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Ewa Brągoszewska: Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 18 Konarskiego St., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Anna Mainka: Department of Air Protection, Silesian University of Technology, 22B Konarskiego St., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-12

Abstract: Many studies have shown that air pollution may be closely associated with increased morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. It has been observed that exposure to air pollution leads to reduced immune response, thereby facilitating viral penetration and replication. In our study, we combined information on confirmed COVID-19 daily new cases (DNCs) in one of the most polluted regions in the European Union (EU) with air-quality monitoring data, including meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, and direction) and concentrations of particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO and NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), and carbon monoxide (CO). Additionally, the relationship between bacterial aerosol (BA) concentration and COVID-19 spread was analyzed. We confirmed a significant positive correlation ( p < 0.05) between NO 2 concentrations and numbers of confirmed DNCs and observed positive correlations ( p < 0.05) between BA concentrations and DNCs, which may point to coronavirus air transmission by surface deposits on bioaerosol particles. In addition, wind direction information was used to show that the highest numbers of DNCs were associated with the dominant wind directions in the region (southern and southwestern parts).

Keywords: air pollution; PM 2.5; PM 10; NO 2; bioaerosols; COVID-19; meteorological parameters; atmospheric air; human health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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