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Mixtures of chemical pollutants at European legislation safety concentrations: how safe are they?

ABSTRACT: The risk posed by complex chemical mixtures in the environment to wildlife and humans is increasingly debated, but has been rarely tested under environmentally relevant scenarios. To address this issue, two mixtures of 14 or 19 substances of concern (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, a surfactant, and a plasticizer), each present at its safety limit concentration imposed by the European legislation, were prepared and tested for their toxic effects. The effects of the mixtures were assessed in 35 bioassays, based on 11 organisms representing different trophic levels. A consortium of 16 laboratories was involved in performing the bioassays. The mixtures elicited quantifiable toxic effects on some of the test systems employed, including i) changes in marine microbial composition, ii) microalgae toxicity, iii) immobilization in the crustacean Daphnia magna, iv) fish embryo toxicity, v) impaired frog embryo development, and vi) increased expression on oxidative stress-linked reporter genes. Estrogenic activity close to regulatory safety limit concentrations was uncovered by receptor-binding assays. The results highlight the need of precautionary actions on the assessment of chemical mixtures even in cases where individual toxicants are present at seemingly harmless concentrations.

SUBMITTER: Carvalho RN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4166171 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mixtures of chemical pollutants at European legislation safety concentrations: how safe are they?

Carvalho Raquel N RN Arukwe Augustine A Ait-Aissa Selim S Bado-Nilles Anne A Balzamo Stefania S Baun Anders A Belkin Shimshon S Blaha Ludek L Brion François F Conti Daniela D Creusot Nicolas N Essig Yona Y Ferrero Valentina E V VE Flander-Putrle Vesna V Fürhacker Maria M Grillari-Voglauer Regina R Hogstrand Christer C Jonáš Adam A Kharlyngdoh Joubert B JB Loos Robert R Lundebye Anne-Katrine AK Modig Carina C Olsson Per-Erik PE Pillai Smitha S Polak Natasa N Potalivo Monica M Sanchez Wilfried W Schifferli Andrea A Schirmer Kristin K Sforzini Susanna S Stürzenbaum Stephen R SR Søfteland Liv L Turk Valentina V Viarengo Aldo A Werner Inge I Yagur-Kroll Sharon S Zounková Radka R Lettieri Teresa T

Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology 20140623 1

The risk posed by complex chemical mixtures in the environment to wildlife and humans is increasingly debated, but has been rarely tested under environmentally relevant scenarios. To address this issue, two mixtures of 14 or 19 substances of concern (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, a surfactant, and a plasticizer), each present at its safety limit concentration imposed by the European legislation, were prepared and tested for their toxic effects. The effects ...[more]

PMID: 24958932

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Project description:BackgroundThere 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.ObjectiveTo 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsSeveral 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.ConclusionsOur 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.

Dataset Information

Mixtures of chemical pollutants at European legislation safety concentrations: how safe are they?

Publications

Mixtures of chemical pollutants at European legislation safety concentrations: how safe are they?

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