Is Chemical Exposure Present in Informal Work Associated with Sars-CoV-2 Infection?

Overview

Journal Rev Saude Publica

Specialty Public Health

Date 2023 May 31

PMID 37255122

Authors

Fernanda Junqueira Salles

Isabelle Nogueira Leroux

Alda Neis Miranda de Araujo

Nilson Antonio Assuncao

Maciel Santos Luz

Glaucia Raquel Luciano da Veiga

Fernando Luiz Affonso Fonseca

Fredi Alexander Diaz-Quijano

Kelly Polido Kaneshiro Olympio

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the incidence of covid-19 symptoms between informal home-based workers and a control group and to assess the association of these cases with blood elements concentrations and other relevant risk factors for Sars-Cov-2 infection.

Methods: Welders chemically exposed to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) (n = 26) and control participants (n = 25) answered questionnaires on adherence to social distancing and signs and symptoms of the disease for five months during the covid-19 pandemic. After follow-up, covid-19 serology tests were performed on a subsample of 12 chemically exposed workers and 20 control participants. Before the pandemic, PTE concentrations in blood (As, Mn, Ni, Cd, Hg, Sb, Sn, Cu, Zn, and Pb) were measured by ICP-MS.

Results: The chemically exposed group had higher lead and cadmium levels in blood (p < 0.01). The control group presented lower adherence to social distancing (p = 0.016). Although not significant, welders had a 74% greater chance of having at least one covid-19 symptom compared with control participants, but their adherence to social distancing decreased this chance by 20%. The use of taxis for transportation was a risk factor significantly associated with covid-19 symptoms.

Conclusion: The lower adherence to social distancing among the control group greatly influences the development of covid-19. The literature lacks data linking exposure to PTEs and Sars-Cov-2 infection and/or severity. In this study, despite chemical exposure, working from home may have protected welders against covid-19, considering that they maintained greater social distancing than control participants.

References

Weill J, Stigler M, Deschenes O, Springborn M . Social distancing responses to COVID-19 emergency declarations strongly differentiated by income. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117(33):19658-19660. PMC: 7443940. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2009412117. View

Armstrong B . Effect of measurement error on epidemiological studies of environmental and occupational exposures. Occup Environ Med. 1999; 55(10):651-6. PMC: 1757516. DOI: 10.1136/oem.55.10.651. View

Mishra K, Rani R, Yadav V, Naik S . Effect of lead exposure on lymphocyte subsets and activation markers. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2010; 32(3):446-9. DOI: 10.3109/08923970903503668. View

Fenga C, Gangemi S, Di Salvatore V, Falzone L, Libra M . Immunological effects of occupational exposure to lead (Review). Mol Med Rep. 2017; 15(5):3355-3360. DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2017.6381. View

Teare J, Kootbodien T, Naicker N, Mathee A . The extent, nature and environmental health implications of cottage industries in Johannesburg, South Africa. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015; 12(2):1894-901. PMC: 4344700. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph120201894. View

Matrajt L, Leung T . Evaluating the Effectiveness of Social Distancing Interventions to Delay or Flatten the Epidemic Curve of Coronavirus Disease. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020; 26(8):1740-1748. PMC: 7392458. DOI: 10.3201/eid2608.201093. View

Metryka E, Chibowska K, Gutowska I, Falkowska A, Kupnicka P, Barczak K . Lead (Pb) Exposure Enhances Expression of Factors Associated with Inflammation. Int J Mol Sci. 2018; 19(6). PMC: 6032409. DOI: 10.3390/ijms19061813. View

Riccelli M, Goldoni M, Poli D, Mozzoni P, Cavallo D, Corradi M . Welding Fumes, a Risk Factor for Lung Diseases. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(7). PMC: 7177922. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17072552. View

Marongiu A, Hasan O, Ali A, Bakhsh S, George B, Irfan N . Are welders more at risk of respiratory infections? Findings from a cross-sectional survey and analysis of medical records in shipyard workers: the WELSHIP project. Thorax. 2016; 71(7):601-6. DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207912. View

10.

Ferrreira A, Pereira E, Salles F, Ferreira da Silva F, Batista B, Handakas E . Home-based and informal work exposes the families to high levels of potentially toxic elements. Chemosphere. 2018; 218:319-327. DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.11.083. View

11.

Salles F, Sayuri Sato A, Luz M, Favaro D, Ferreira F, da Silva Paganini W . The environmental impact of informal and home productive arrangement in the jewelry and fashion jewelry chain on sanitary sewer system. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2018; 25(11):10701-10713. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-1357-z. View

12.

Kucharski A, Klepac P, Conlan A, Kissler S, Tang M, Fry H . Effectiveness of isolation, testing, contact tracing, and physical distancing on reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in different settings: a mathematical modelling study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20(10):1151-1160. PMC: 7511527. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30457-6. View

13.

Medlock 3rd K, Temzelides T, Hung S . COVID-19 and the value of safe transport in the United States. Sci Rep. 2021; 11(1):21707. PMC: 8569113. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01202-9. View

14.

M L Aquino E, Silveira I, Pescarini J, Aquino R, Souza-Filho J, Rocha A . Social distancing measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic: potential impacts and challenges in Brazil. Cien Saude Colet. 2020; 25(suppl 1):2423-2446. DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232020256.1.10502020. View

15.

Yao Y, Lawrence D . Susceptibility to COVID-19 in populations with health disparities: Posited involvement of mitochondrial disorder, socioeconomic stress, and pollutants. J Biochem Mol Toxicol. 2020; 35(1):e22626. PMC: 9340490. DOI: 10.1002/jbt.22626. View

16.

Mehrifar Y, Zamanian Z, Pirami H . Respiratory Exposure to Toxic Gases and Metal Fumes Produced by Welding Processes and Pulmonary Function Tests. Int J Occup Environ Med. 2019; 10(1):40-49. PMC: 6522216. DOI: 10.15171/ijoem.2019.1540. View

17.

Ayatollahi M . Study of the impact of blood lead level on humoral immunity in humans. Toxicol Ind Health. 2003; 18(1):39-44. DOI: 10.1191/0748233702th129oa. View

18.

Lillienberg L, Zock J, Kromhout H, Plana E, Jarvis D, Toren K . A population-based study on welding exposures at work and respiratory symptoms. Ann Occup Hyg. 2008; 52(2):107-15. DOI: 10.1093/annhyg/mem063. View

19.

Antonini J, Lewis A, Roberts J, Whaley D . Pulmonary effects of welding fumes: review of worker and experimental animal studies. Am J Ind Med. 2003; 43(4):350-60. DOI: 10.1002/ajim.10194. View

20.

Hossein-Khannazer N, Azizi G, Eslami S, Alhassan Mohammed H, Fayyaz F, Hosseinzadeh R . The effects of cadmium exposure in the induction of inflammation. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2019; 42(1):1-8. DOI: 10.1080/08923973.2019.1697284. View