Discussion of Findings
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Oil and gas production sites are a major contributor to air pollution
and , as is observed above , emerging studies indicate that exposure to air pollution could increase COVID-19 morbidity and mortality .
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These results indicate that the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases and deaths are higher than would be expected in some counties with active oil and gas production sites , but not in others . While these results are inconclusive , the observation that more COVID-19 deaths were observed than expected in the three Colorado counties located in the Denver Julesburg Basin could support hypothesis generation for further study . Those three counties – Adams , Broomfield , and Weld – experienced the bulk of the oil and gas development that occurred in Colorado in 2020 . The potential for exposure to air pollutants associated with oil and gas development is highest while the well site is being developed and extraction is taking place ( e . g . drilling ,
29 . 30 hydraulic fracturing , and flowback ).
Oil and gas production sites are a major contributor to air pollution 31 and , as is observed above , emerging studies indicate that exposure to air pollution could increase COVID-19 morbidity and mortality . However , it is not possible in this type of study to isolate the role in COVID-related morbidity and mortality of air pollution from oil and gas sites , relative to other major sources of air pollution . Other major air pollution sources in the counties we evaluated include wildfires and traffic . For example , numerous hazardous air quality alerts due to particulate matter in wildfire smoke were issued in Garfield , Adams , Broomfield , and Weld counties in the summer and fall of 2020 . Traffic is a significant source of both particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide emissions .
Additionally , many factors other than air pollution exposure could influence the transmission and / or severity of COVID-19 in these counties , including compliance with COVID-19 restrictions ( e . g . social distancing and maskwearing ) and prevalence of co-morbidities such as asthma , diabetes , and obesity , as well as proportions of highrisk essential worker and residential populations , such as meat-packing workers , prisoners , and nursing home residents . Further investigations using individual-level data on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and exposures to air pollution from each of these sources would be necessary to determine if air pollution from oil and gas production sites were exacerbating COVID-19 . Additionally , comorbidities , age , vulnerability to COVID-19 exposure , and other individual characteristics would need to be included in future studies .
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AIR POLLUTION-COVID REPORT | 13