INCREASED PM2.5 LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED INCIDENCE OF COVID-19: THE WASHINGTON WILDFIRES OF 2020

Casey Mace Firebaugh,Amie Wojtyna,Tishra Beeson,Ryan Arboleda

doi:10.32435/envsmoke.20214249-53

Casey Mace Firebaugh, Amie Wojtyna + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.32435/envsmoke.20214249-53

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Journal: ENVIRONMENTAL SMOKE	Publication Date: Aug 31, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Central Washington University

Abstract

Yakima County, Washington was subject to the extrordinary Washington Wildfire Season of 2020 in which unhealty air (PM2.5) persisted for a 14-day period. This remarkable fire and smoke season began in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 virus, like inhaled particulate matter is known to cause respiratory illness or injury. This study sought to determine through publicly available data whether increased levels of PM2.5 were associated with increased cases of COVID-19. Using a 12-day lag analysis, Pearson product correlations were performed between PM2.5 24-hour averages in Yakima County Washington and daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 for data available on March 1, 2020-October 15, 2020. In addition, total running cases of confirmed COVID-19, daily mortality and total running mortality rates were compared in the lag analyses. All days (PM2.5) in the lag analysis were found to have a statistically significant positive correlation with COVID-19 case counts and total running counts of COVID-19 (p<.001) with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.24-0.28. The total running mortality rates were also significantly associated with daily PM2.5 (p<.001); however, the daily mortality rates were not found to be statistically significantly related to PM2.5. This simple analysis provides preliminary evidence that increased air pollution (PM2.5) is associated with higher rates of confirmed COVID-19 cases. However, further research is required to determine the potentially confounding factors in this relationship.

Highlights

The summer wildfires of 2020 in Washington state occurring during the first spring/summer season of the COVID-19 pandemic placed significant burden on the region
Yakima County, Washington has been on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) federal watchlist for air quality non-attainment – a designation characterized by having too many days of unhealthy air determined by the measure of PM2.5
Because of the theorized compounded effects of inhaled smoke and excess PM2.5 on respiratory outcomes, this study sought to examine any association between excess PM2.5 and increased cases of COVID-19 disease through a lag analysis of publicly available data during the wildfire season of 2020

Summary

Introduction

The summer wildfires of 2020 in Washington state occurring during the first spring/summer season of the COVID-19 pandemic placed significant burden on the region. Both notable events disproportionately impacted Yakima County, Washington. At several points in the pandemic Yakima County has been highlighted as a community with higher per capita rates of infection than state and federal averages, despite being a rural county (Geranos, 2020). Yakima County, Washington has been on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) federal watchlist for air quality non-attainment – a designation characterized by having too many days of unhealthy air determined by the measure of PM2.5. Because of the theorized compounded effects of inhaled smoke and excess PM2.5 on respiratory outcomes, this study sought to examine any association between excess PM2.5 and increased cases of COVID-19 disease through a lag analysis of publicly available data during the wildfire season of 2020

Study Design

Data Analysis

Results and Discussion