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. 2021 Jan:192:110459.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110459. Epub 2020 Nov 11.

Air pollutants and risk of death due to COVID-19 in Italy

Marco Dettori  1 , Giovanna Deiana  2 , Ginevra Balletto  3 , Giuseppe Borruso  4 , Beniamino Murgante  5 , Antonella Arghittu  6 , Antonio Azara  7 , Paolo Castiglia  8
Affiliations

Air pollutants and risk of death due to COVID-19 in Italy

Marco Dettori et al. Environ Res. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

The present work aims to study the role of air pollutants in relation to the number of deaths per each Italian province affected by COVID-19. To do that, specific mortality from COVID-19 has been standardized for each Italian province and per age group (10 groups) ranging from 0 to 9 years to >90 years, based on the 2019 national population figures. The link between air pollutants and COVID-19 mortality among Italian provinces was studied implementing a linear regression model, whereas the wide set of variables were examined by means of LISA (Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation), relating the spatial component of COVID-19 related data with a mix of environmental variables as explanatory variables. As results, in some provinces, namely the Western Po Valley provinces, the SMR (Standardized Mortality Ratio) is much higher than expected, and the presence of PM10 was independently associated with the case status. Furthermore, the results for LISA on SMR and PM10 demonstrate clusters of high-high values in the wide Metropolitan area of Milan and the Po Valley area respectively, with a certain level of overlap of the two distributions in the area strictly considered Milan. In conclusion, this research appears to find elements to confirm the existence of a link between pollution and the risk of death due to the disease, in particular, considering land take and air pollution, this latter referred to particulate (PM10). For this reason, we can reiterate the need to act in favour of policies aimed at reducing pollutants in the atmosphere, by means of speeding up the already existing plans and policies, targeting all sources of atmospheric pollution: industries, home heating and traffic.

Keywords: Air pollutants; COVID-19; Italy; PM(10); Particulate matter; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Forest plot showing the SMR values and the relative 95% confidence intervals calculated for the 36 selected Italian provinces (color should not be used). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relationship between SMR and PM10. Red circles: Po Valley provinces (color should be used). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
SMR – Standardized Mortality Ratio per Italian Province and PM10 level per Italian provinces (color should be used). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Analysis of Spatial Autocorrelation – LISA. SMR and PM10 (color should be used). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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