Spatial analysis of COVID-19 and traffic-related air pollution in Los Angeles

Lipsitt, Jonah; Chan‐Golston, Alec M.; Liu, Jonathan; Su, Jason; Zhu, Yifang; Jerrett, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106531

Cited by 51 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One national study in Israel assessed the long-term averaged PM 2.5 exposure with COVID-19 cases from 2020 to January 2021 ( Levi and Barnett-Itzhaki, 2021 ). A second study assessed NO 2 exposure in 2016 and COVID-19 case rate in Los Angeles County from March 2020 to February 2021 ( Lipsitt et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambient air pollution and COVID-19 incidence during four 2020–2021 case surges

Sidell

Chen

Huang

et al. 2022

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Air pollution exposure may make people more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. However, previous studies in this area mostly focused on infection before May 2020 and long-term exposure. Objective To assess both long-term and short-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 incidence across four case surges from 03/1/2020 to 02/28/2021. Methods The cohort included 4.6 million members from a large integrated health care system in southern California with comprehensive electronic medical records (EMR). COVID-19 cases were identified from EMR. Incidence of COVID-19 was computed at the census tract-level among members. Prior 1-month and 1-year averaged air pollutant levels (PM 2.5 , NO 2 , and O 3 ) at the census tract-level were estimated based on hourly and daily air quality data. Data analyses were conducted by each wave: 3/1/2020–5/31/2020, 6/1/202–9/30/2020, 10/1/2020–12/31/2020, and 1/1/2021–2/28/2021 and pooled across waves using meta-analysis. Generalized linear mixed effects models with Poisson distribution and spatial autocorrelation were used with adjustment for meteorological factors and census tract-level social and health characteristics. Results were expressed as relative risk (RR) per 1 standard deviation. Results The cohort included 446,440 COVID-19 cases covering 4609 census tracts. The pooled RRs (95% CI) of COVID-19 incidence associated with 1-year exposures to PM 2.5 , NO 2 , and O 3 were 1.11 (1.04, 1.18) per 2.3 μg/m 3 ,1.09 (1.02, 1.17) per 3.2 ppb, and 1.06 (1.00, 1.12) per 5.5 ppb respectively. The corresponding RRs (95% CI) associated with prior 1-month exposures were 1.11 (1.03, 1.20) per 5.2 μg/m 3 for PM 2.5 , 1.09 (1.01, 1.17) per 6.0 ppb for NO 2 and 0.96 (0.85, 1.08) per 12.0 ppb for O 3 . Conclusion Long-term PM 2.5 and NO 2 exposures were associated with increased risk of COVID-19 incidence across all case surges before February 2021. Short-term PM 2.5 and NO 2 exposures were also associated. Our findings suggest that air pollution may play a role in increasing the risk of COVID-19 infection.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambient air pollution and COVID-19 incidence during four 2020–2021 case surges

Sidell

Chen

Huang

et al. 2022

Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several ecological studies (Wu et al 2020;Lipsitt et al 2021;Bourdrel et al 2021) and a small number of individual-level studies (Elliott et al 2021;López-Feldman 2021;Bowe et al 2021) have reported associations between long-term exposure to air pollution prior to the pandemic and incident COVID-19 disease, hospital admission, and case fatality. Nearly all previous studies have been based on confirmed cases and deaths based on diagnostic testing data and have missed the majority of asymptomatic infected persons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambient Air Pollution in Relation to SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Antibody Response, and COVID-19 Disease: A Cohort Study in Catalonia, Spain (COVICAT Study)

Kogevinas

Castaño‐Vinyals

Karachaliou

et al. 2021

Environ Health Perspect

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…( Lanki et al, 2015 , Rich et al, 2012 ) Based on this hypothesis, an ecological study investigated the association of historical NO 2 exposure in 2016, as a representative of traffic-related air pollution estimated by the land-use regression model, with COVID-19 incidence and mortality in the Los Angeles area from 03/16/2020 to 02/23/2021. ( Lipsitt et al, 2021 ) Researchers found that an interquartile range (8.7 ppb) increase in historical NO 2 exposure was associated with a 27% and 34% increased incidence and case fatality rate, respectively, in Los Angeles County. However, to our knowledge, no cohort studies with individual-level NRAP exposure and outcome and comorbidity adjustment have been conducted to robustly examine these associations -a gap our study aims to fill.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To our knowledge, only one ecological study has used land-use regression models to predict NO 2 exposure in 2016 as an estimate of long-term traffic-related air pollution exposure and assessed its association with COVID-19 incidence and mortality in Los Angeles. ( Lipsitt et al, 2021 ) However, the effect of ambient air pollution exposure was not adjusted for and the interpretation of the results is limited by the population-level outcome and exposure data. The COVID-19 lockdown has also significantly reduced traffic volumes, ( Parker et al, 2020 ) which was not studied in that analysis and would require better exposure assessment, specifically for near-roadway air pollution exposure (NRAP) mixture from different sources of freeways and non-freeways.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Near-roadway air pollution associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality – Multiethnic cohort study in Southern California

Chen

Huang

Sidell

et al. 2021

Environment International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Air pollution exposure has been associated with increased risk of COVID-19 incidence and mortality by ecological analyses. Few studies have investigated the specific effect of traffic-related air pollution on COVID-19 severity. Objective To investigate the associations of near-roadway air pollution (NRAP) exposure with COVID-19 severity and mortality using individual-level exposure and outcome data. Methods The retrospective cohort includes 75,010 individuals (mean age 42.5 years, 54% female, 66% Hispanic) diagnosed with COVID-19 at Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 3/1/2020–8/31/2020. NRAP exposures from both freeways and non-freeways during 1-year prior to the COVID-19 diagnosis date were estimated based on residential address history using the CALINE4 line source dispersion model. Primary outcomes include COVID-19 severity defined as COVID-19-related hospitalizations, intensive respiratory support (IRS), intensive care unit (ICU) admissions within 30 days, and mortality within 60 days after COVID-19 diagnosis. Covariates including socio-characteristics and comorbidities were adjusted for in the analysis. Result One standard deviation (SD) increase in 1-year-averaged non-freeway NRAP (0.5 ppb NO x ) was associated with increased odds of COVID-19-related IRS and ICU admission [OR (95% CI): 1.07 (1.01, 1.13) and 1.11 (1.04, 1.19) respectively] and increased risk of mortality (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.18). The associations of non-freeway NRAP with COVID-19 outcomes were largely independent of the effect of regional fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide exposures. These associations were generally consistent across age, sex, and race/ethnicity subgroups. The associations of freeway and total NRAP with COVID-19 severity and mortality were not statistically significant. Conclusions Data from this multiethnic cohort suggested that NRAP, particularly non-freeway exposure in Southern California, may be associated with increased risk of COVID-19 severity and mortality among COVID-19 infected patients. Future studies are needed to assess the impact of emerging COVID-19 variants and chemical components from freeway and non-freeway NRAP.

show abstract

Spatial analysis of COVID-19 and traffic-related air pollution in Los Angeles

Cited by 51 publications

References 50 publications

Ambient air pollution and COVID-19 incidence during four 2020–2021 case surges

Ambient air pollution and COVID-19 incidence during four 2020–2021 case surges

Ambient Air Pollution in Relation to SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Antibody Response, and COVID-19 Disease: A Cohort Study in Catalonia, Spain (COVICAT Study)

Near-roadway air pollution associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality – Multiethnic cohort study in Southern California

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About