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Lopez L, Kogut K, Rauch S, Gunier RB, Wong MP, Harris E, Deardorff J, Eskenazi B, Harley KG. Organophosphate pesticide exposure and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 255:119214. [PMID: 38788790 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
Several studies have reported immune modulation by organophosphate (OP) pesticides, but the relationship between OP exposure and SARS-CoV-2 infection is yet to be studied. We used two different measures of OP pesticide exposure (urinary biomarkers (N = 154) and residential proximity to OP applications (N = 292)) to examine the association of early-childhood and lifetime exposure to OPs and risk of infection of SARS-CoV-2 using antibody data. Our study population consisted of young adults (ages 18-21 years) from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) Study, a longitudinal cohort of families from a California agricultural region. Urinary biomarkers reflected exposure from in utero to age 5 years. Residential proximity reflected exposures between in utero and age 16 years. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood samples collected between June 2022 and January 2023 were detected via two enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, each designed to bind to different SARS-CoV-2 antigens. We performed logistic regression for each measure of pesticide exposure, adjusting for covariates from demographic data and self-reported questionnaire data. We found increased odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection among participants with higher urinary biomarkers of OPs in utero (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 0.71, 5,58) and from age 0-5 (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 0.54, 6.95).
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Lopez
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Katie Kogut
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Stephen Rauch
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Robert B Gunier
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Marcus P Wong
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Eva Harris
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Julianna Deardorff
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Brenda Eskenazi
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
| | - Kim G Harley
- Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States.
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Baumert BO, Wang H, Samy S, Park SK, Lam CN, Dunn K, Pinto-Pacheco B, Walker D, Landero J, Conti D, Chatzi L, Hu H, Goodrich JA. Environmental pollutant risk factors for worse COVID-19 related clinical outcomes in predominately hispanic and latino populations. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 252:119072. [PMID: 38729411 PMCID: PMC11198996 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.119072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Per- and poly-fluorinated compounds (PFAS) and heavy metals constitute two classes of environmental exposures with known immunotoxicant effects. In this pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of exposure to heavy metals and PFAS on COVID-19 severity. We hypothesized that elevated plasma-PFAS concentrations and urinary heavy metal concentrations would be associated with increased odds of ICU admission in COVID-19 hospitalized individuals. METHODS Using the University of Southern California Clinical Translational Sciences Institute (SC-CTSI) biorepository of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, urinary concentrations of 15 heavy metals and urinary creatinine were measured in n = 101 patients and plasma concentrations of 13 PFAS were measured in n = 126 patients. COVID-19 severity was determined based on whether a patient was admitted to the ICU during hospitalization. Associations of metals and PFAS with ICU admission were assessed using logistic regression models, controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking status, and for metals, urinary dilution. RESULTS The average age of patients was 55 ± 14.2 years. Among SC-CTSI participants with urinary measurement of heavy metals and blood measures of PFAS, 54.5% (n = 61) and 54.8% (n = 80) were admitted to the ICU, respectively. For heavy metals, we observed higher levels of Cd, Cr, and Cu in ICU patients. The strongest associations were with Cadmium (Cd). After accounting for covariates, each 1 SD increase in Cd resulted in a 2.00 (95% CI: 1.10-3.60; p = 0.03) times higher odds of admission to the ICU. When including only Hispanic or Latino participants, the effect estimates between cadmium and ICU admission remained similar. Results for PFAS were less consistent, with perfluorodecanesulfonic acid (PFDS) exhibiting a positive but non-significant association with ICU admission (Odds ratio, 95% CI: 1.50, 0.97-2.20) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) exhibiting a negative association with ICU admission (0.53, 0.31-0.88). CONCLUSIONS This study supports the hypothesis that environmental exposures may impact COVID-19 severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittney O Baumert
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Hongxu Wang
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Shar Samy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Sung Kyun Park
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Chun Nok Lam
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Kathryn Dunn
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Brismar Pinto-Pacheco
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Douglas Walker
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Julio Landero
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - David Conti
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Leda Chatzi
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Howard Hu
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
| | - Jesse A Goodrich
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
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Porter AK, Kleinschmidt SE, Andres KL, Reusch CN, Krisko RM, Taiwo OA, Olsen GW, Longnecker MP. Occurrence of COVID-19 and serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: A case-control study among workers with a wide range of exposures. GLOBAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2024; 7:100137. [PMID: 38293561 PMCID: PMC10826147 DOI: 10.1016/j.gloepi.2024.100137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a broad class of synthetic chemicals; some are present in most humans in developed countries. Some studies suggest that certain PFAS may have immunotoxic effects in humans, which could put individuals with high levels of exposure at increased risk for infectious diseases such as COVID-19. We conducted a case-control study to examine the association between COVID-19 diagnosis and PFAS serum concentrations among employees and retirees from two 3 M facilities, one of which historically generated perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS). Participants completed enrollment and follow-up study visits in the Spring of 2021. Participants were categorized as cases if they reported a COVID-19 diagnosis or became sick with at least one symptom of COVID-19 when someone else in their household was diagnosed, otherwise they were categorized as a control. COVID-19 diagnosis was modeled in relation to concentration of serum PFAS measured at enrollment after adjusting for covariates. The analytic sample comprised 573 individuals, 111 cases (19.4%) and 462 controls (80.6%). In adjusted models, the odds ratio of COVID-19 was 0.94 per interquartile range (14.3 ng/mL) increase in PFOS (95% confidence interval 0.85, 1.04). Results for PFOA, PFHxS, and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were similar. Other PFAS present at lower concentrations were examined as categorical variables (above the limit of quantification [LOQ], yes vs. no [referent category]), and also showed no positive associations. In our study, which used individual-level data and included people with high occupational exposure, the serum concentrations of all PFAS examined were not associated with an increased odds ratio for COVID-19. At this point, the epidemiologic data supporting no association of COVID-19 occurrence with PFAS exposure are stronger than those suggesting a positive association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna K. Porter
- Ramboll U.S. Consulting, 3214 Charles B. Root Wynd, Suite 130, Raleigh, NC 27612, United States of America
| | - Sarah E. Kleinschmidt
- 3M Company, Corporate Occupational Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Kara L. Andres
- 3M Company, Corporate Occupational Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Courtney N. Reusch
- 3M Company, Corporate Occupational Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Ryan M. Krisko
- 3M Company, Environment, Health, Safety and Product Stewardship, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Oyebode A. Taiwo
- 3M Company, Corporate Occupational Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Geary W. Olsen
- 3M Company, Corporate Occupational Medicine, St. Paul, MN 55144, United States of America
| | - Matthew P. Longnecker
- Ramboll U.S. Consulting, 3214 Charles B. Root Wynd, Suite 130, Raleigh, NC 27612, United States of America
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