A new Harvard-led analysis finds that COVID-19 patients that live in areas with higher air pollution, such as New York City, have experienced a higher death-rate from the infection than those who lived in areas with cleaner air.
Surprisingly, indoor air can often be more polluted than outdoor air. Particles from home heating and cooling systems, tobacco smoke, off-gassing from furniture and building materials, and mold spores can all contaminate indoor air. Of course, outdoor air pollution can also make its way indoors when windows are open – traffic pollution particles in built-up areas and next to roads, chemical pesticide sprays in agricultural areas, and even mercury and ozone that are carried by wind over long distances.
Even though you can’t see the fine particles of pollution in the air around you, they’re there.
