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“SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception()
In epidemiology, there are still outdated myths associated with the spread of respiratory infections. Recently, we have witnessed the origination of a new misconception, to the effect that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted in the open air by way of particulate air pollution (atmospheric particulate matter (...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Elsevier Inc.
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8489301/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34562486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112116 |
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author | Ishmatov, Alexander |
author_facet | Ishmatov, Alexander |
author_sort | Ishmatov, Alexander |
collection | PubMed |
description | In epidemiology, there are still outdated myths associated with the spread of respiratory infections. Recently, we have witnessed the origination of a new misconception, to the effect that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted in the open air by way of particulate air pollution (atmospheric particulate matter (PM)). There is no evidence to support the idea behind this misconception. Nevertheless, more and more people are involved in animated debate and the number of studies concerning atmospheric PM as a carrier of SARS-CoV-2 is growing rapidly. In this work, the origin of the misconception was investigated, and the published papers which have contributed to the spread of this myth were analyzed. The results show that the following factors lie behind the origin and spread of the misconception: a) The specific terminology is not always clearly defined or consistently used by scientists. In particular, the terms ‘particulate matter’, ‘atmospheric aerosol particles’, ‘air pollutants’, and ‘atmospheric aerosols’ need to be clarified, and besides they are often equated to ‘infectious aerosols’, ‘virus-bearing aerosols’, ‘bio-aerosols’, ‘virus-laden particles’, ‘respiratory aerosol/droplets’, and ‘droplet nuclei’. b) Authors misinterpret statistical data and information from other sources. Interpretation of the correlation between PM levels and the increasing incidence and severity of COVID-19 infection, is often changed from “PM may reflect the indirect action of certain atmospheric conditions that maintain infectious nuclei suspended for prolonged periods, parameters that also act on atmospheric pollutants” to “PM could cause an increase in infectious droplets/aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2.” This is a dramatic change to the meaning. Moreover, it is often not taken into account that PM may reflect activities in areas with high population density and this population density at the same time contributes to the spread COVID-19. c) Skewed citation practices. Many authors cite a hypothetical conclusion from an original study, then other authors cite the papers of these authors as primary sources. This practice leads to the effect that there are many witnesses to a ‘phenomenon’ that did not ever occur. Thus, the terminology used in interdisciplinary communications should be more nuanced and defined precisely. Authors should be more careful when citing unconfirmed data (and hypotheses) as well as in interpreting statistical data so as to avoid confusion and spreading false information. This is especially important now in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8489301 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-84893012021-10-04 “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() Ishmatov, Alexander Environ Res Article In epidemiology, there are still outdated myths associated with the spread of respiratory infections. Recently, we have witnessed the origination of a new misconception, to the effect that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted in the open air by way of particulate air pollution (atmospheric particulate matter (PM)). There is no evidence to support the idea behind this misconception. Nevertheless, more and more people are involved in animated debate and the number of studies concerning atmospheric PM as a carrier of SARS-CoV-2 is growing rapidly. In this work, the origin of the misconception was investigated, and the published papers which have contributed to the spread of this myth were analyzed. The results show that the following factors lie behind the origin and spread of the misconception: a) The specific terminology is not always clearly defined or consistently used by scientists. In particular, the terms ‘particulate matter’, ‘atmospheric aerosol particles’, ‘air pollutants’, and ‘atmospheric aerosols’ need to be clarified, and besides they are often equated to ‘infectious aerosols’, ‘virus-bearing aerosols’, ‘bio-aerosols’, ‘virus-laden particles’, ‘respiratory aerosol/droplets’, and ‘droplet nuclei’. b) Authors misinterpret statistical data and information from other sources. Interpretation of the correlation between PM levels and the increasing incidence and severity of COVID-19 infection, is often changed from “PM may reflect the indirect action of certain atmospheric conditions that maintain infectious nuclei suspended for prolonged periods, parameters that also act on atmospheric pollutants” to “PM could cause an increase in infectious droplets/aerosols containing SARS-CoV-2.” This is a dramatic change to the meaning. Moreover, it is often not taken into account that PM may reflect activities in areas with high population density and this population density at the same time contributes to the spread COVID-19. c) Skewed citation practices. Many authors cite a hypothetical conclusion from an original study, then other authors cite the papers of these authors as primary sources. This practice leads to the effect that there are many witnesses to a ‘phenomenon’ that did not ever occur. Thus, the terminology used in interdisciplinary communications should be more nuanced and defined precisely. Authors should be more careful when citing unconfirmed data (and hypotheses) as well as in interpreting statistical data so as to avoid confusion and spreading false information. This is especially important now in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elsevier Inc. 2022-03 2021-09-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8489301/ /pubmed/34562486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112116 Text en © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active. |
spellingShingle | Article Ishmatov, Alexander “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title | “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title_full | “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title_fullStr | “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title_full_unstemmed | “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title_short | “SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: Misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
title_sort | “sars-cov-2 is transmitted by particulate air pollution”: misinterpretations of statistical data, skewed citation practices, and misuse of specific terminology spreading the misconception() |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8489301/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34562486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.112116 |
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