Comment to the paper "Assessing nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels as a contributing factor to coronavirus (COVID-19) fatality", by Ogen, 2020

E Pisoni; R Van Dingenen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139853

Comment to the paper "Assessing nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels as a contributing factor to coronavirus (COVID-19) fatality", by Ogen, 2020

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Oct 10:738:139853. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139853. Epub 2020 Jun 1.

Authors

E Pisoni¹, R Van Dingenen²

Affiliations

¹ European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate for Energy, Transport and Climate, Air and Climate Unit, Via E. Fermi 2749, I-21027, Ispra, VA, Italy. Electronic address: enrico.pisoni@ec.europa.eu.
² European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate for Energy, Transport and Climate, Air and Climate Unit, Via E. Fermi 2749, I-21027, Ispra, VA, Italy.

PMID: 32513529
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139853

Abstract

In this paper we critically review the work "Assessing nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) levels as a contributing factor to coronavirus (COVID-19) fatality" (Ogen, 2020), stressing the fact that we think there are flaws in the published methodology. We do this as we think it is important, given the current deluge of 'COVID-19 related' publications, to clearly define what can be stated and what on the contrary, cannot be stated, due to limitations in terms of data quality and/or methodology.

Keywords: Air quality; COVID-19; NO2.

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis*
Air Pollution / analysis*
Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections*
Coronavirus*
Estrone / analogs & derivatives
Humans
Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
Pandemics*
Pneumonia, Viral*
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Air Pollutants
Estrone
Nitrogen Dioxide
estropipate