In November of 2024, a population-based ecological study, titled “Upstream Oil and Gas Production and Community COVID‐19 Case and Mortality Rates in California, USA,” examined the relationship between residential exposure to oil and gas production and COVID-19 cases and mortality rates in California.
Study findings:
- During the early months of the pandemic (Feb–May 2020), areas with the highest exposure to oil and gas production had 34% higher COVID-19 case rates and 55% higher mortality rates compared to areas with no production, even after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.
- Over the entire study period (Feb 2020–Jan 2021), there was a moderate increase in mortality rates in highly exposed areas, but case rate associations were not significant.
The study suggests that air pollution from oil and gas production may have contributed to worse COVID-19 outcomes, highlighting the need for further research on environmental risk factors in pandemic preparedness.
Read the full article here.
Read a news article on the study here.
