Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Role of air pollution on seasonal distribution of Covid-19: a case study in the west of Iran

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The seasonal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 might be affected by air pollution. To test the hypothesis, epidemic determinants, namely, shape, timing (Peak and Trough) and size (Peak to Trough Ratio and Excess Risk) of seasonal distribution of the outbreak were compared before and after adjusting for air pollutants in a distributed lag nonlinear model. We controlled for one-lagged outcome and meteorological parameters in the model. We also evaluated interaction effect between air pollutants and season using stratification method. The epidemic determinants were changed after adjusting for PM2.5 and O3 in the model, suggesting the existence of their association with the seasonal distribution of the outbreak. The Excess Risk of season (i.e., the proportion of confirmed Covid-19 cases that were attributed to season; AF) was increased as %4 (%95 CI  − 29, 38) after adjusting for PM2.5. Adjusting for O3 in the model resulted in % 1 (%95 CI  − 36, 34) decrease in the index. NO, NO2 and SO2 had no association with the seasonal distribution, though the interaction analysis revealed that association of NO2 and SO2 with Covid-19 confirmed cases were significantly higher in fall than winter and spring, respectively. Totally, PM2.5 has negatively associated with the seasonal distribution of the outbreak while O3 has positively associated in the region under study. Although some reasons such as wearing mask and oxidative effect might go before the negative and positive associations, but our results suggests that any association and causation between air pollution and Covid-19 should be carefully interpreted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data and R codes are available under reasonable request from corresponding author.

References

  • Adhikari, A., & Yin, J. (2020). Short-term effects of ambient ozone, PM2.5, and meteorological factors on COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Queens, New York. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 4047.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alimohammadi, M., Abolli, S., & Ghordouei Milan, E. (2022). Perceiving effect of environmental factors on prevalence of SARS-Cov-2 virus and using health strategies; A review. Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research, 10(3), 187–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atash, F. (2007). The deterioration of urban environments in developing countries: Mitigating the air pollution crisis in Tehran, Iran. Cities, 24, 399–409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bashir, M. F., Jiang, B., Komal, B., Bashir, M. A., Farooq, T. H., Iqbal, N., & Bashir, M. (2020). Correlation between environmental pollution indicators and COVID-19 pandemic: A brief study in Californian context. Environmental Research, 187, 109652.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chelani, A., & Gautam, S. (2022). Lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic: A case study from Indian cities shows insignificant effects on persistent property of urban air quality. Geoscience Frontiers, 13, 101284.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M. A., Ozgen, C., & Strobl, E. (2020). Air pollution exposure and Covid-19 in Dutch municipalities. Environmental and Resource Economics, 76, 581–610.

    Google Scholar 

  • Contini, D., & Costabile, F. (2020). Does air pollution influence COVID-19 outbreaks? Atmosphere, 11(4), 377.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dales, R., Blanco-Vidal, C., Romero-Meza, R., Schoen, S., Lukina, A., & Cakmak, S. (2021). The association between air pollution and COVID-19 related mortality in Santiago, Chile: A daily time series analysis. Environmental Research, 198, 111284.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fattorini, D., & Regoli, F. (2020). Role of the chronic air pollution levels in the Covid-19 outbreak risk in Italy. Environmental Pollution, 264, 114732.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Faustini, A., et al. (2013). Air pollution and multiple acute respiratory outcomes. European Respiratory Journal, 42, 304–313.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Franzini, M., Valdenassi, L., Ricevuti, G., Chirumbolo, S., Depfenhart, M., Bertossi, D., & Tirelli, U. (2020). Oxygen-ozone (O2–O3) immunoceutical therapy for patients with COVID-19 preliminary evidence reported. International Immunopharmacology, 88, 106879.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gautam, S., & Kiran, G. A. R. (2022). Introduction to the special issue ‘‘Environmental impacts of COVID-19 pandemic”. Gondwana Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.10.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoang, T., & Tran, T. T. A. (2021). Ambient air pollution, meteorology, and COVID-19 infection in Korea. Journal of Medical Virology, 93, 878–885.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Imai, C., Armstrong, B., Chalabi, Z., Mangtani, P., & Hashizume, M. (2015). Time series regression model for infectious disease and weather. Environmental Research, 142, 319–327.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iran SCo (2015). Iran Statistical Yearbook. https://www.amar.org.ir/english.

  • Jackson, M. L. (2009). Confounding by season in ecologic studies of seasonal exposures and outcomes: Examples from estimates of mortality due to influenza. Annals of Epidemiology, 19, 681–691.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakab, G. J., Spannhake, E. W., Canning, B. J., Kleeberger, S. R., & Gilmour, M. I. (1995). The effects of ozone on immune function. Environmental Health Perspectives, 103, 77–89.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, X.-Q., Mei, X.-D., & Feng, D. (2016). Air pollution and chronic airway diseases: What should people know and do? Journal of Thoracic Disease, 8, E31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Y., Wu, X.-J., & Guan, Y.-J. (2020). Effect of ambient air pollutants and meteorological variables on COVID-19 incidence. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 41, 1011–1015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karan, A., Ali, K., Teelucksingh, S., & Sakhamuri, S. (2020). The impact of air pollution on the incidence and mortality of COVID-19. Global Health Research and Policy, 5, 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayalar, Ö., et al. (2021). Existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on ambient particulate matter samples: A nationwide study in Turkey. Science of the Total Environment, 789, 147976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147976

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, R. P., Perumpully, S. J., Samuel, C., & Gautam, S. (2022). Exposure and health: A progress update by evaluation and scientometric analysis. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 37(2), 453–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumari, P., & Toshniwal, D. (2020). Impact of lockdown on air quality over major cities across the globe during COVID-19 pandemic. Urban Climate, 34, 100719.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, H., Xu, X.-L., Dai, D.-W., Huang, Z.-Y., Ma, Z., & Guan, Y.-J. (2020a). Air pollution and temperature are associated with increased COVID-19 incidence: a time series study. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 97, 278–282.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li, T., Liu, Y., Li, M., Qian, X., & Dai, S. Y. (2020b). Mask or no mask for COVID-19: A public health and market study. PLoS ONE, 15, e0237691.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lotfi, M., Hamblin, M. R., & Rezaei, N. (2020). COVID-19: Transmission, prevention, and potential therapeutic opportunities. Clinica Chimica Acta, 508, 254–266.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, C.-w, Liu, X.-f, & Jia, Z.-f. (2020). 2019-nCoV transmission through the ocular surface must not be ignored. Lancet (london, England), 395, e39.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marquès, M., & Domingo, J. L. (2022). Positive association between outdoor air pollution and the incidence and severity of COVID-19. A review of the recent scientific evidences. Environmental Research, 203, 111930.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, G., & Semple, J. (2009). High concentration of surface ozone observed along the Khumbu Valley Nepal April 2007. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, B. K., et al. (2008). Virion disruption by ozone-mediated reactive oxygen species. Journal of Virological Methods, 153, 74–77.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naqvi, H. R., et al. (2022). Wildfire-induced pollution and its short-term impact on COVID-19 cases and mortality in California. Gondwana Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.04.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nottmeyer, L. N., & Sera, F. (2021). Influence of temperature, and of relative and absolute humidity on COVID-19 incidence in England-a multi-city time-series study. Environmental Research, 196, 110977.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Organization WH (2022). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/.

  • Pansini, R., & Fornacca, D. (2021). COVID-19 higher mortality in Chinese regions with chronic exposure to lower air quality. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 597753.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ran, J., et al. (2020). The ambient ozone and COVID-19 transmissibility in China: A data-driven ecological study of 154 cities. Journal of Infection, 81, e9–e11.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sachs, J. D., et al. (2022). The lancet commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet, 400, 1224–1280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Şahin, Ü. A. (2020). The effects of COVID-19 measures on air pollutant concentrations at urban and traffic sites in Istanbul. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 20, 1874–1885. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2020.05.0239

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sekhavati, E., & Jalilzadeh Yengejeh, R. (2021). Investigation and Optimization of Air Pollution Risk by a Multi-Criteria Decision Making Method Using Fuzzy TOPSIS: A Case Study of Construction Workers. Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research, 9, 265–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semple, J., & Moore, G. (2020). High levels of ambient ozone (O3) may impact COVID-19 in high altitude mountain environments. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 280, 103487.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, A. K., & Balyan, P. (2020). Air pollution and COVID-19: Is the connect worth its weight? Indian Journal of Public Health, 64, 132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi, Z., et al. (2021). Abrupt but smaller than expected changes in surface air quality attributable to COVID-19 lockdowns. Science Advances, 7, eabd6696.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R. P., & Chauhan, A. (2020). Impact of lockdown on air quality in India during COVID-19 pandemic. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 13, 921–928.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taghizadeh, F., Mokhtarani, B., & Rahmanian, N. (2023). Air pollution in Iran: The current status and potential solutions. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 195, 737.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, B. M., Ash, M., & King, L. P. (2022). Initially high correlation between air pollution and COVID-19 mortality declined to zero as the pandemic progressed: There is no evidence for a causal link between air pollution and COVID-19 vulnerability. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 10000.

    Google Scholar 

  • To, T., et al. (2021). UV, ozone, and COVID-19 transmission in Ontario, Canada using generalised linear models. Environmental Research, 194, 110645.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Travaglio, M., Yu, Y., Popovic, R., Selley, L., Leal, N. S., & Martins, L. M. (2021). Links between air pollution and COVID-19 in England. Environmental Pollution, 268, 115859.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tseng, C.-C., & Li, C.-S. (2006). Ozone for inactivation of aerosolized bacteriophages. Aerosol Science and Technology, 40, 683–689.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Venter, Z. S., Aunan, K., Chowdhury, S., & Lelieveld, J. (2020). COVID-19 lockdowns cause global air pollution declines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 18984–18990.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walter, S. D. (1978). Calculation of attributable risks from epidemiological data. International Journal of Epidemiology, 7, 175–182.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X.-L., Yang, L., Chan, K.-P., Chiu, S. S., Chan, K.-H., Peiris, J. M., & Wong, C.-M. (2012). Model selection in time series studies of influenza-associated mortality. PLoS ONE, 7, e39423.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Deng, Z., & Shi, D. (2021). How effective is a mask in preventing COVID-19 infection? Medical Devices & Sensors, 4, e10163.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Woodby, B., Arnold, M. M., & Valacchi, G. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 pathogenesis, and exposure to air pollution: What is the connection? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1486, 15–38.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, C.-F., et al. (2016). Association of short-term exposure to fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide with acute cardiovascular effects. Science of the Total Environment, 569, 300–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, X., Nethery, R. C., Sabath, M. B., Braun, D., & Dominici, F. (2020a). Air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States: Strengths and limitations of an ecological regression analysis. Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd4049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, X., Nethery, R. C., Sabath, M. B., Braun, D., & Dominici, F. (2020b). Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States: A nationwide cross-sectional study. MedRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, L., Taylor, J. E., & Kaiser, J. (2022). Short-term air pollution exposure and COVID-19 infection in the United States. Environmental Pollution, 292, 118369.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuki, K., Fujiogi, M., & Koutsogiannaki, S. (2020). COVID-19 pathophysiology: A review. Clinical Immunology (orlando, Fla), 215, 108427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clim.2020.108427

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, Y., Xie, J., Huang, F., & Cao, L. (2020). Association between short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 infection: Evidence from China. Science of the Total Environment, 727, 138704.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zoran, M., Savastru, D., & Dida, A. (2016). Assessing urban air quality and its relation with radon (222Rn). Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 309, 909–922.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zoran, M. A., Savastru, R. S., Savastru, D. M., & Tautan, M. N. (2020a). Assessing the relationship between ground levels of ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Milan, Italy. Science of the Total Environment, 740, 140005.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zoran, M. A., Savastru, R. S., Savastru, D. M., & Tautan, M. N. (2020b). Assessing the relationship between surface levels of PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter impact on COVID-19 in Milan, Italy. Science of the Total Environment, 738, 139825.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Department of Environment and Iran Meteorological Organization for providing the data. This study was supported by Deputy of Research and Technology, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (Grant NO: 1401.187). We thank the university committee for supporting us

Funding

This work was supported by Deputy of Research and Technology at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences with grant number of 1401.187.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

    Afshin Maleki, Reza Rezaee, Omid Aboubakri & Kazem Godini

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ülkü Alver Şahin

Authors
  1. Afshin Maleki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Reza Rezaee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Omid Aboubakri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ülkü Alver Şahin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kazem Godini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

This study was designed and analyzed conjointly by the authors. A.M., R.R. and O.A. U.S and K.G. have equally contributed to the writing of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omid Aboubakri.

Ethics declarations

conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the review board of ethics committee of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. Ethics code is IR.MUK.REC.1401.187. In addition, we confirm that all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

Informed consent

Ethics committee of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences waived the informed consent requirement in this study; the proposal for this study was approved by the review board of the committee, and no personal identifications of people were required during the data collection process.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 204 kb)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maleki, A., Rezaee, R., Aboubakri, O. et al. Role of air pollution on seasonal distribution of Covid-19: a case study in the west of Iran. Environ Geochem Health 45, 8031–8042 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01708-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01708-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation