The Covid crisis highlighted gaps in our understanding of the role that air pollution plays in infections.
A flurry of studies carried out during and after the crisis allowed a UK government advisory group to conclude that long-term exposure to air pollution may contribute to worse coronavirus symptoms. The group offered examples that included a study of more than 3 million people in Denmark that showed air pollution added to the risk of death or hospital admission with severe Covid, especially in the least well off.
Now a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health has examined whether long-term exposure to air pollution is a factor in hospital admissions for lower respiratory infections (LRIs). LRIs include chest infections, pneumonia and bronchitis and place a large and increasing burden on health services. Alone, they accounted for a 15% increase in the rate of hospital admissions in the UK between 1999 and 2019.
Prof Cathryn Tonne, who led the study, said: “We have so much evidence of the negative health effects of air pollution on a wide range of health outcomes. We were surprised to see how limited the evidence still was for air pollution and LRIs in adults.”
Nearly 4 million adults in Catalonia were studied over a five-year period. During this time, 94,000 people were admitted to hospital with LRIs – almost 60,000 of these had flu or pneumonia. Their health records were then compared with air pollution in their neighbourhoods. People over 65, and especially men with blood pressure problems, were most vulnerable to needing hospital admission with an LRI that was worsened by air pollution. This included particle pollution and exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant from diesel exhaust and burning fossil gas. Men living in the most polluted 25% of neighbourhoods had a 50% increased chance of being admitted to hospital with these infections compared with those in cleaner areas, but even here the risk was not zero.
Tonne said: “Importantly, we also observed positive associations between air pollution and hospital admission for LRI even at relatively low pollution concentrations. Continuing to reduce air pollution will have broad health benefits. This includes reducing the risk of hospital admission for common respiratory infections, particularly among vulnerable people.”
In 2022, Prof Sir Stephen Holgate chaired an inquiry by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences into the health burden from respiratory infections that the UK experiences each winter. Commenting on the study from Catalonia, Holgate said: “It is known that air pollution episodes trigger hospital admissions for serious lung infections. This study of nearly 4 million people clearly shows that long-term exposure to outdoor particulate pollution and nitrogen dioxide also drives infection-related hospital admissions.
here is a lot at stake
The world’s most powerful man is using his office to punish journalistic organisations that won’t follow his orders or who report critically on his policies. Donald Trump’s actions against the press include bans, lawsuits and hand-picking his own pool of reporters.
But the global threat against the press is bigger than just Trump.
Economic and authoritarian forces around the globe are challenging journalists’ ability to report. An independent press, one that those in power can’t simply overrule, is crucial to democracy. Figures such as Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán want to crush it through exclusion and influence.
The Guardian is a global news organisation that will stand up to attacks on the free press. We have no interest serving those with immense power or immense wealth.
We are owned by an independent trust devoted only to protecting and defending our journalism. That means we don’t have a billionaire owner dictating what our reporters can cover or what opinions our columnists can have, or shareholders demanding a quick return.
The global situation is shifting hour by hour, making this an extremely challenging moment. It will take brave, well-funded, committed, quality journalism to call out what is happening.
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