A new study has suggested that Covid-19 virus piggybacks only black carbon emitted during biomass burning and not all PM2.5 particles. The study, conducted by Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and published in the journal ELSEVIER, is based on data collected from Delhi from September to December last year and the 24-hour average of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and black carbon (BC).

PM2.5 are fine particles which penetrate deep into the body and ignite inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract that leads to the risk of having cardiovascular and respiratory problems including a weak immune system. PM2.5 consists of black carbon, often called soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) among others. Several studies have linked air pollution to higher Covid-19 cases.

A study carried out in Italy correlated the incidence of coronavirus cases with PM2.5 levels, authors Aditi Rathod and Gufran Beig said, reports news agency PTI. “However, in this paper, we argue that not all PM2.5 particles carry the virus. It is only black carbon which is emitted during biomass burning which carries the virus,” Beig, senior scientist and founder-project director, System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), said.

The study says that the aged biomass black carbon particles tend to aggregate and react with other compounds to grow in size, providing temporary habitat to viruses leading to the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases, which declined after the crop burning stopped. The researchers found that the concentration of black carbon “directly corresponds to the speed at which infections spread after the onset of winter and stubble burning period and then reduced with a declining trend in BC with reduction in stubble fire counts”.

News Source : Indian Express