PMID- 36740154
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20230302
LR  - 20230619
IS  - 1096-0953 (Electronic)
IS  - 0013-9351 (Print)
IS  - 0013-9351 (Linking)
VI  - 223
DP  - 2023 Apr 15
TI  - Individual blood concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and chemical 
      elements, and COVID-19: A prospective cohort study in Barcelona.
PG  - 115419
LID - S0013-9351(23)00211-6 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115419 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: There is wide, largely unexplained heterogeneity in immunological and 
      clinical responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Numerous environmental chemicals, 
      such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and chemical elements (including 
      some metals, essential trace elements, rare earth elements, and minority 
      elements), are immunomodulatory and cause a range of adverse clinical events. 
      There are no prospective studies on the effects of such substances on the 
      incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the 
      influence of blood concentrations of POPs and elements measured several years 
      before the pandemic on the development of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in 
      individuals from the general population. METHODS: We conducted a prospective 
      cohort study in 154 individuals from the general population of Barcelona. POPs 
      and elements were measured in blood samples collected in 2016-2017. SARS-CoV-2 
      infection was detected by rRT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs and/or by antibody 
      serology using eighteen isotype-antigen combinations measured in blood samples 
      collected in 2020-2021. We analyzed the associations between concentrations of 
      the contaminants and SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of COVID-19, taking 
      into account personal habits and living conditions during the pandemic. RESULTS: 
      Several historically prevalent POPs, as well as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and 
      zinc, were not associated with COVID-19, nor with SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, 
      DDE (adjusted OR = 5.0 [95% CI: 1.2-21]), lead (3.9 [1.0-15]), thallium (3.4 
      [1.0-11]), and ruthenium (5.0 [1.8-14]) were associated with COVID-19, as were 
      tantalum, benzo(b)fluoranthene, DDD, and manganese. Thallium (3.8 [1.6-8.9]), and 
      ruthenium (2.9 [1.3-6.7]) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, and so were 
      lead, gold, and (protectively) iron and selenium. We identified mixtures of up to 
      five substances from several chemical groups, with all substances independently 
      associated to the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide the first 
      prospective and population-based evidence of an association between individual 
      concentrations of some contaminants and COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infection. POPs 
      and elements may contribute to explain the heterogeneity in the development of 
      SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 in the general population. If the associations 
      are confirmed as causal, means are available to mitigate the corresponding risks.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
FAU - Porta, Miquel
AU  - Porta M
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain; 
      School of Medicine, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de 
      Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: 
      mporta@imim.es.
FAU - Pumarega, Jose
AU  - Pumarega J
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain; 
      School of Medicine, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de 
      Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Gasull, Magda
AU  - Gasull M
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER 
      de Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu 
      Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Aguilar, Ruth
AU  - Aguilar R
AD  - ISGlobal - Hospital Clinic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Henriquez-Hernandez, Luis A
AU  - Henriquez-Hernandez LA
AD  - Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Department 
      of Clinical Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 
      Spain; CIBER de Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Madrid, Spain.
FAU - Basagana, Xavier
AU  - Basagana X
AD  - CIBER de Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat 
      Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; ISGlobal - PSMar - PRBB, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Zumbado, Manuel
AU  - Zumbado M
AD  - Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Department 
      of Clinical Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 
      Spain; CIBER de Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Madrid, Spain.
FAU - Villar-Garcia, Judit
AU  - Villar-Garcia J
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Rius, Cristina
AU  - Rius C
AD  - CIBER de Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat 
      Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Agencia de Salut Publica de Barcelona, Barcelona, 
      Spain.
FAU - Mehta, Sneha
AU  - Mehta S
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain; 
      Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA.
FAU - Vidal, Marta
AU  - Vidal M
AD  - ISGlobal - Hospital Clinic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Jimenez, Alfons
AU  - Jimenez A
AD  - ISGlobal - Hospital Clinic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Campi, Laura
AU  - Campi L
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain; 
      School of Medicine, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Lop, Joan
AU  - Lop J
AD  - Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM PSMar), Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Perez Luzardo, Octavio L
AU  - Perez Luzardo OL
AD  - Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Department 
      of Clinical Sciences, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, 
      Spain; CIBER de Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN), Madrid, Spain.
FAU - Dobano, Carlota
AU  - Dobano C
AD  - ISGlobal - Hospital Clinic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de 
      Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Barcelona, Spain.
FAU - Moncunill, Gemma
AU  - Moncunill G
AD  - ISGlobal - Hospital Clinic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBER de 
      Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Barcelona, Spain.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20230204
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Environ Res
JT  - Environmental research
JID - 0147621
RN  - 0 (Persistent Organic Pollutants)
RN  - 7UI0TKC3U5 (Ruthenium)
RN  - AD84R52XLF (Thallium)
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - *COVID-19/epidemiology
MH  - Persistent Organic Pollutants
MH  - SARS-CoV-2
MH  - Prospective Studies
MH  - *Ruthenium
MH  - Thallium
MH  - *Environmental Pollutants
PMC - PMC9898057
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - COVID-19
OT  - Environmental pollutants
OT  - Immunotoxicity
OT  - Metals
OT  - SARS-CoV-2
COIS- Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known 
      competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared 
      to influence the work reported in this paper.
EDAT- 2023/02/06 06:00
MHDA- 2023/03/03 06:00
PMCR- 2023/02/04
CRDT- 2023/02/05 19:28
PHST- 2022/11/24 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/01/26 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/02/01 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/02/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/03/03 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2023/02/05 19:28 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/02/04 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S0013-9351(23)00211-6 [pii]
AID - 115419 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115419 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Environ Res. 2023 Apr 15;223:115419. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115419. Epub 2023 
      Feb 4.