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Air Pollution and COVID-19 Severity

Author

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  • Maria Alsina-Pujols

    (ETH Zurich, Department of Management, Technology and Economics)

  • Judit Vall Castelló

    (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB)

Abstract

Air pollution is a major concern that constitutes an important part of the climate change thread. Furthermore, since the outbreak of the pandemic, there is an increased interest in understanding the role of environmental conditions in determining the severity of infectious diseases. We contribute to this debate by quantifying the effect of short-term exposure to air pollution on COVID-19 mortality. We construct a novel county-level dataset of daily COVID-19 mortality and, in order to overcome the potential endogeneity problems caused by factors related to both the virus and mortality rates (such as county-level economic conditions), we use wind speed as an instrument for air pollution. Our results show that being exposed to one additional unit of nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides, increases COVID-19 mortality by a factor of 1.1–1.3. From a policy perspective, our findings provide insights on the design of public health actions to minimize the spread of contagious diseases and to maximize the positive impacts of pollution reduction policies on population health.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Alsina-Pujols & Judit Vall Castelló, 2025. "Air Pollution and COVID-19 Severity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(8), pages 2235-2261, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:88:y:2025:i:8:d:10.1007_s10640-025-01007-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-025-01007-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tatyana Deryugina & Garth Heutel & Nolan H. Miller & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "The Mortality and Medical Costs of Air Pollution: Evidence from Changes in Wind Direction," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(12), pages 4178-4219, December.
    2. Matthew A. Cole & Ceren Ozgen & Eric Strobl, 2020. "Air Pollution Exposure and Covid-19 in Dutch Municipalities," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 581-610, August.
    3. Isphording, Ingo E. & Pestel, Nico, 2021. "Pandemic meets pollution: Poor air quality increases deaths by COVID-19," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Christel Faes & Steven Abrams & Dominique Van Beckhoven & Geert Meyfroidt & Erika Vlieghe & Niel Hens & Belgian Collaborative Group on COVID-19 Hospital Surveillance, 2020. "Time between Symptom Onset, Hospitalisation and Recovery or Death: Statistical Analysis of Belgian COVID-19 Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-18, October.
    5. Persico, Claudia L. & Johnson, Kathryn R., 2021. "The effects of increased pollution on COVID-19 cases and deaths," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    6. Austin, Wes & Carattini, Stefano & Gomez-Mahecha, John & Pesko, Michael F., 2023. "The effects of contemporaneous air pollution on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Wolfram Schlenker & W. Reed Walker, 2016. "Airports, Air Pollution, and Contemporaneous Health," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(2), pages 768-809.
    8. Ingo E. Isphording & Nico Pestel, 2021. "Pandemic Meets Pollution: Poor Air Quality Increases Deaths by COVID-19," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_262, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
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    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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