TONY CARNIE HEART and air chemistry experts in Germany say the Covid-19 death toll in South Africa and other parts of the world has been significantly exacerbated by high levels of toxic air pollution in several big cities and industrialised nations. In a study published on 27 October in the international journal Cardiovascular Research, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz medical centre found that 15% of Covid-19 deaths globally are attributable to underlying diseases caused by tiny particles of industrial dust pollution. These include diseases of the heart, blood vessels and…