Air pollution is a known risk factor for several diseases, but the extent to which it influences COVID-19 compared to other respiratory diseases remains unclear. We performed a test-negative case-control study among people with COVID-19-compatible symptoms who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection, to assess whether their long- and short-term exposure to ambient air pollution (AAP) was associated with testing positive (vs. negative) for SARS-CoV-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Hyg Environ Health
August 2022
Objectives: In the Netherlands, during the first phase of the COVID-19 epidemic, the hotspot of COVID-19 overlapped with the country's main livestock area, while in subsequent phases this distinct spatial pattern disappeared. Previous studies show that living near livestock farms influence human respiratory health and immunological responses. This study aimed to explore whether proximity to livestock was associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObserved multiple adverse effects of livestock production have led to increasing calls for more sustainable livestock production. Quantitative analysis of adverse effects, which can guide public debate and policy development in this area, is limited and generally scattered across environmental, human health, and other science domains. The aim of this study was to bring together and, where possible, quantify and aggregate the effects of national-scale livestock production on 17 impact categories, ranging from impacts of particulate matter, emerging infectious diseases and odor annoyance to airborne nitrogen deposition on terrestrial nature areas and greenhouse gas emissions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution has been associated with mortality in urban cohort studies. Few studies have investigated the association between emission contributions from different particle sources and mortality in large-scale population registries, including non-urban populations.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between long-term exposure to particulate air pollution from different source categories and non-accidental mortality in the Netherlands based on existing national databases.