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18% of COVID-19 deaths in U.S. linked to air pollution, study finds

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Up to 15% of all COVID-19 deaths globally, and 18% of fatalities caused by the virus in the United States may be linked with long-term exposure to air pollution, according to an analysis published Monday.
Oct.26 (UPI) — Up to 15% of all COVID-19 deaths globally, and 18% of fatalities caused by the virus in the United States, may be linked to long-term exposure to air pollution, an analysis published Monday by the journal Cardiovascular Research estimated. This means that air pollution may have played a role in roughly 40,000 of the more than 220,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus nationally, the researchers said. „If both long-term exposure to air pollution and infection with the COVID-19 virus come together, then we have an additive adverse effect on health, particularly with respect to the heart and blood vessels, which leads to greater vulnerability and less resilience to COVID-19,“ study co-author Thomas Münzel said in a statement. „If you already have heart disease, then air pollution and coronavirus infection will cause trouble that can lead to heart attacks, heart failure and stroke,“ sad Münzel, a professor at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research.

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