The Potential Impact of Smog Spell on Humans’ Health Amid COVID-19 Rages

Abstract

Rapid and unchecked industrialization and the combustion of fossil fuels have engendered a state of fear in urban settlements. Smog is a visible form of air pollution that arises due to the over-emissions of some primary pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hydrocarbons, SO2, NO, and NO2 which further react in the atmosphere and give rise to toxic and carcinogenic secondary smog components. Smog reduces the visibility on roads and results in road accidents and cancellation of flights. Uptake of primary and secondary pollutants of smog is responsible for several deleterious diseases of which respiratory disorders, cardiovascular dysfunction, neurological disorders, and cancer are discussed here. Children and pregnant women are more prone to the hazards of smog. The worsening menace of smog on one hand and occurrence of pandemic i.e., COVID-19 on the other may increase the mortality rate. But the implementation of lockdown during pandemics has favored the atmosphere in some ways, which will be highlighted in the article. On the whole, the focus of this article will be on the dubious relationship between smog and coronavirus.

Investigation of Bioaerosols and the Microbiological Indoor Air Quality in an Urban Nursery School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…Therefore, recognition, monitoring and control of air microbial contamination in schools are very necessary especially for airborne pathogens. This can be done routinely by microbiological sampling [25]. The bacterial species isolated in this study were also isolated in a similar study by Ki-Hyun et al…”

A review on factors influencing fog formation, classification, forecasting, detection and impacts

“…The elderly and the people already suffering from any other type of cardiovascular or respiratory disease are at higher risk from smog, similarly the coronavirus disease is more fatal to them. The synergistic effect of COVID-19 and smog is explained in detail by Javed et al ( 2021 ) in their review.…”

“…The economic slowdown because of COVID-19 had one remarkable positive effect on the air quality worldwide. The air pollution rates in many countries around the world were significantly lowered during the lockdowns that were happening in the last two years (Javed et al 2021 ). However, as both air pollution and the coronavirus affects the respiratory system, the need for improving the air quality increases many folds.…”

Correction: Javed et al. The Potential Impact of Smog Spell on Humans’ Health Amid COVID-19 Rages. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 11408

“…There was an error in the original publication [ 1 ]. **There were typo errors on page 9 and 12, along with self-citations in references 6, 17, 21, 32, 42, 49, 56, 57, 62 and 74**.…”