Is Particulate Matter of Air Pollution a Vector of Covid-19 Pandemic?

Tarek Barakat; Benoit Muylkens; Bao-Lian Su

doi:10.1016/j.matt.2020.09.014

Is Particulate Matter of Air Pollution a Vector of Covid-19 Pandemic?

Matter. 2020 Oct 7;3(4):977-980. doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2020.09.014.

Authors

Tarek Barakat¹, Benoit Muylkens², Bao-Lian Su^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Inorganic Materials Chemistry (CMI), Namur Institute of Structured Matter (NISM), University of Namur, Namur, Wallonia 5000, Belgium.
² Integrated Veterinary Research Unit, Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (NARILIS), University of Namur, Namur, Wallonia 5000, Belgium.
³ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a severe respiratory disease caused by the emergence of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that very quickly spread in the human population. Fine particulate matter (PM) generated from combustion engines have been described as toxic to human health. Recent events stressed that high concentrations of PM of air pollution might favor the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Autumn approaches, air pollution will be accentuated because of weather condition. The risk of a second outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic is highly probable. Elucidating the role of PM of air pollution in the spread of the virus is thus urgent and crucial.

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