Stress is in the air: ambient reactive oxygen species and COVID-19.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Balmes JR
• Description:
  The paper by Stieb and colleagues (pp. 168-177) in this issue of the Journal is of interest in several domains. First, although still an ecological study of the potential impact of exposure to air pollution on the risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it addresses some of the critiques of previously published studies. Instead of a comparison across regions with differing exposures that inherently includes regional differences regarding potentially confounding variables, it is a study of neighborhood differences across a single city, Toronto. Second, the authors used a novel air pollution exposure metric, estimated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in fine particulate matter (particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter [PM2.5]), based on a model of ROS in human epithelial lining fluid and a land use regression model of iron and copper in PM2.5 from multiple monitoring sites across Toronto in 2016-2017. Yet another important aspect of the use of ROS as the exposure metric is the support the analysis gives to the putative oxidative stress mechanism for the PM2.5 association with COVID-19 outcomes observed in other studies... Although this study addressed many of the limitations of other studies attempting to study the impact of exposure to air pollution on COVID-19, it remains an ecological study from which causality cannot be inferred. Studies with individual-level data for both exposures and outcomes are needed. To date, it has been difficult for investigators to obtain data from public health agencies that include both residential addresses and individual-level covariate data. Although this is understandable in terms of privacy concerns, it remains imperative to determine if exposure to air pollution is truly a risk factor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and/or COVID-19 morbidity, especially if this exposure is a mediator of the increased risks for people of color who are at lower incomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically demonstrated the chronic health inequity that low-income communities of color experience in the United States and apparently Canada as well. The results of the Toronto study are just another reminder of the disproportionate burden of exposure to air pollution borne by such communities. Environmental justice is a necessary component of dismantling the systemic racism upon which U.S. society has been built and that also may blight Canadian society. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollution Communicable Diseases Environmental Exposure Healthcare Disparities Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  SARS-CoV-2; Coronavirus; COVID-19; Aerosol particles; Aerosols; Air pollution; Health disparities; Environmental exposure
• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  118-120
• Volume:
  204
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065614
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2021 Jul; 204(2):118-120
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dd36b41ff75e1a6ab67fb3fc15c18bdfa60b36e3291724df42bf89294775b8165b19c9f385988765976e32ff668a2f2aac8d749ba9378e85c7453ceb066ff33e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/249492/cdc_249492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 570.04 KB ]