Atmospheric CO2 extends the lifespan of viruses!

According to recent research, carbon dioxide plays a role a key role in the lifespan of so-called viruses in the airas well as for SARS-CoV-2 which is responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic.

CO2 and viruses go well together, and that’s not good news

During the Covid-19 pandemic, citizens were given numerous tips to limit the risk of transmitting the virus. Among them, for example, we can note the fact of ventilation of rooms where several people could meet.

According to a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications by researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, this particular tip was good, even more than scientists could previously imagine. Indeed, researchers have looked into it the link between CO2 and airborne viruses and found that the level of CO2 in the air allowed, above a certain threshold, the virus to survive longer.

The scientists in charge of the study tested the behavior of SARS-CoV-2 at CO2 concentrations ranging from 400 parts per million (ppm)which corresponds to the average level of the outside air, in feet to 6,500 ppm. According to their results, it turns out yes viral aerostability increases significantly from a CO2 concentration in air of 800 ppma level considered “well ventilated”.

After 40 minutes, compared to clean air, experiments also showed that it was approx 10 times more virus remained infectious when the air had a CO2 concentration of 3000 ppmor a concentration similar to a crowded room.

Greater risk of infection due to global warming?

According to scientists, this phenomenon is related to pH. Indeed, if exhaled droplets containing SARS-CoV-2 have a high pH that rapidly reduces their infectivity, the acidity of CO2 makes them less alkalinewhich therefore increases the lifespan of airborne viruses and therefore risk of infection.

So, just opening the windows in your home would be enough to physically remove this type of virus from the room. Ventilating the room, as we were advised during the Covid-19 pandemic, actually allows you to they supply air less loaded with CO2 and thus prevent the water droplets exhaled by infected persons from losing their toxicity.

However, this solution may no longer be one in the more or less near future. The average level of CO2 in our atmosphere continues to rise with human activity for many decades. If it was around 310ppm during the 1950sfor example he arrived 414.7 ppm in 2021the highest rate on Earth in over 3 million years!

Researchers estimate that the average level of CO2 in our atmosphere could exceed 700 to 800 ppm by the end of the centurywhich, in addition to increasing global warming, could also promote transmission of these airborne virusesas this recent study has shown.