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Ambient air pollutant concentrations and asthma-related hospital admissions during COVID-19 transport restrictions
Sustainable business and solutions | Pollution, environmental and human health | Clinical impacts and solutions
Published Public Health October 2022
Date (DD-MM-YYYY)
19-08-2025 to 19-08-2026
Available on-demand until 19th August 2026
Cost
Free
Education type
Article
CPD subtype
On-demand
Description
Objectives
Exposure to air pollution is a known risk factor for asthma exacerbations and hospitalisations. This study aimed to identify if COVID-19 transport restrictions led to improvements in air quality in Dublin and if this had an impact on asthma-related hospital admissions.
Study design
This was a population-based retrospective cohort study.
Methods
Daily concentration levels of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) system provided the daily number of asthma-related hospital admissions in Dublin. The figures for 2018–2019 were compared with the period of transport restrictions (from March 2020).
Results
During the period of transport restrictions, there was a significant decrease in mean daily concentrations in both PM2.5 (8.9 vs 7.8 μg/m3, P = 0.002) and NO2 (24.0 vs 16.7 μg/m3, P < 0.001). There was also a significant reduction in the mean number of daily asthma admissions (4.5 vs 2.8 admissions, P < 0.001). Only NO2 showed a statistically significant correlation with asthma admissions (r = 0.132, P < 0.001).
Conclusion
Transport restrictions introduced to mitigate against COVID-19 led to lower pollutant levels and improved air quality. Previously described associations between pollutants and asthma would indicate that these improvements in air quality contributed to the reduction in asthma-related admissions. The complex nature of PM is the likely explanation for the lack of correlation between its concentration and asthma admissions, unlike NO2 whose primary source is vehicular emissions. Public Health needs to advocate for transport policies, which can improve air quality and hence improve human health.
Contact details
Email address
Telephone number
+44 20 7424 4200

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London
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