The current respiratory infection crisis in 2020 has shown how outdoor air pollution is a huge problem worldwide.  However, the issue of indoor air quality has been much less discussed during this crisis despite studies done in Europe over 5 years ago showing that indoor air pollutants cause respiratory distress among the elderly in nursing homes:  “Air quality in nursing homes affecting the elderly” and “Indoor climate in nursing homes can be dangerous for the residents.”  Here is the actual scientific paper (PDF):  2015 European Study of Indoor Air Quality in Nursing Homes.

In Rhode Island, for example, around 80% of the deaths from the current epidemic were of people living in nursing homes.  Many nursing homes across the world have been severely hit by respiratory infections over the years, not just by the current coronavirus.  Indoor air pollutants such as VOCs, molds, and combustion gases (e.g. NO2, CO, O3, excess CO2, etc.) decrease the effectiveness of people’s immune systems and cause symptoms identical to many respiratory diseases.  This indoor air quality issue also applies to many other buildings including schools, apartment buildings, and retail stores.  Upon reading comments made by HVAC professionals online, it seems to me that any large structure with a shared HVAC system (nursing home, meat-packing plant, cruise ship, warship, prison, retail store etc.) has the potential for serious infection problems and indoor air quality issues.

In addition, if a nursing home, hospital or other building with poor indoor air quality is located in a heavily polluted urban area it will not matter if the building has good ventilation to outside air because the outside air will also have many pollutants.  So, many are caught between breathing indoor air that is polluted and outdoor air that is polluted.  These people are therefore susceptible to succumbing to a respiratory infection caused by any number of microbes or viruses, not just a coronavirus.  Fortunately, outdoor air pollution has dropped considerably across the world during the  economic slowdown (which in itself is a cause for concern for other reasons).

Unfortunately, many healthcare facilities including even hospitals can suffer from what is termed “Sick Building Syndrome”.   Here is a PDF download of an article written about this specific problem:  Sick Building Syndrome in Healthcare Facilities.

Given all of this, I think the focus should shift from pharmaceuticals and social distancing to revamping healthcare facilities to have better indoor air quality and better water quality as to increase the effectiveness of people’s immune systems and to improve healthcare worker performance.  In addition, we should improve people’s nutrition, avoid food doused with herbicides and pesticides, and limit our exposure to low-level electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation that is present throughout urban areas and our homes.  Also, we should get out and enjoy nature, really anything to improve environmental health and the functioning of our immune systems, things the corporate media barely touches upon in their coverage of the crisis.

There are hundreds of microbes that cause respiratory issues, so improving people’s environments and immune systems seems to be the more beneficial focus and the one that allows people to keep their civil and individual liberties during epidemics.

List of links for professionals and laymen alike to remediate this situation:

This is a free primer to the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Guide by an HVAC engineering professional association:  IAQ Guide.   The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has a large amount of information pertaining to IAQ:  MA DEP IAQ Manuals and Information.  Humid indoor air is also important for decreasing the impact of cold/flu viruses:  Viruses do not spread well in humid air.  It’s the humidity!  Also, here’s the link to the petition to the WHO on addressing humidity in indoor air and its relevance to health:  40to60RH petition.

Houseplants can be used to detoxify indoor air according to a study performed by NASA in 1989:  Houseplants remove toxins from air.  A quote from the study:  “Since man’s existence on Earth depends upon a life support system involving an intricate relationship with plants and their associated microorganisms, it should be obvious that when he attempts to isolate himself in tightly sealed buildings away from this ecological system, problems will arise,” wrote lead investigator B.C. Wolverton, a microbiologist for NASA.  The answer to these problems is obvious,” he added. “If man is to move into closed environments on Earth or in space, he must take along Nature’s life support system.”

Pollution and Coronavirus Cases in a Metropolitan Area

As I mentioned before, if a building is ventilating to outdoor air that is also polluted than that is not helping the indoor air quality situation that much.  Below are maps of outdoor air pollution including the concentration of diesel particulate matter in the Providence metropolitan area in Rhode Island.

Now compare the above two maps to the total number of cases per zip code in the Providence metropolitan area shown below, and the correlation with air pollution and population density is quite apparent:

Here is a map showing the total number of cases per capita per zip code in northern Rhode Island, again the correlation between air pollution and population density is quite clear:

As some scientists have stated over the decades, “The microbe is nothing, the environmental conditions (the terrain) everything.”

In addition, while I do not think that the deployment of the 5G network caused the current epidemic, I do think that low-level radiation from 4G/5G technology is depressing people’s immune systems and making the situation worse,  almost like another form of “air pollution.” See this discussion by Martin Pall, PhD, a former biochemistry professor from Washington State University:   5GCOVID-19-M.L.Pall_.3.30.2020.  September 2021 Update:  This research paper confirms my original hypothesis that the deployment of the new small cell 4G/5G network is having an effect on people’s immune systems and making the pandemic situation worse.

There will be a 5G summit in June 2020 with all kinds of researchers discussing the health effects of EMF pollution and the potential for increased mass surveillance of the public, register here for free:  The 5G Summit.  Here is more information on electromagnetic field (EMF) pollution with research by many respected scientists and doctors:  The Bioinitiative Report 2012.

Providence, RI has the highest concentration of cell phone towers and 5G antennae in addition to the highest concentrations of other forms of air pollution in the state.  Again, it is all different types of pollution (EMF, air, water, food, etc.) that is making the epidemic worse, there is no single cause.  In order to prevent similar disasters we must remediate our environment over the coming years.   Dr. Zach Bush has validated some of my points here in this video, he provides a lot of good insights here: Pollution and Coronavirus.