Higher CO2 level helps viruses like COVID to live longer: Study

Allen Haddrell, the lead researcher and a senior research associate at the University of Bristol School of Chemistry in the UK, said, "We knew SARS-CoV-2, like other viruses, spreads through the air we breathe. But this study represents a huge breakthrough in our understanding of exactly how and why that happens, and crucially, what can be done to stop it."

The researchers found in the lab studies that raising carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the air could increase the time in which airborne viruses remain infectious.

The researchers revealed that the normal outdoor air has a CO2 level of 400 parts per million (ppm) while the increasing CO2 contractions is 800 ppm that is increasing the survival or airborne viruses.

Haddrell, in a university news release, explained, "This relationship sheds important light on why super-spreader events may occur under certain conditions."

He furthered, "It shows that opening a window may be more powerful than originally thought, especially in crowded and poorly ventilated rooms, as fresh air will have a lower concentration of CO2, causing the virus to become inactivated much faster."

Haddrell concluded, "Data from our study suggests that rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere may coincide with an increase in the transmissibility of other respiratory viruses by extending how long they remain infectious in the air."