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Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10610828/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37888657 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805 |
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author | Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel Torres-Solórzano, Verónica Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina |
author_facet | Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel Torres-Solórzano, Verónica Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina |
author_sort | Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel |
collection | PubMed |
description | The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could be present in the swabs and, if so, could pose a risk to human health. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy to examine the ultrastructure of seven assorted brands of COVID test swabs and to identify and quantify their chemical elements. We detected eight unexpected elements, including transition metals, such as titanium and zirconium, the metalloid silicon, as well as post-transition metals aluminium and gallium, and the non-metal elements sulphur and fluorine. Some of the elements were detected as trace amounts, but for others, the amount was close to reported toxicological thresholds for inhalation routes. Experimental studies have shown that the detrimental effects of unexpected chemical elements include moderate to severe inflammatory states in the exposed epithelium as well as proliferative changes. Given the massive testing still being used in the context of the COVID pandemic, we urge caution in continuing to recommend repeated and frequent testing, particularly of healthy, non-symptomatic, individuals. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10610828 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106108282023-10-28 Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel Torres-Solórzano, Verónica Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina Toxics Article The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could be present in the swabs and, if so, could pose a risk to human health. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy to examine the ultrastructure of seven assorted brands of COVID test swabs and to identify and quantify their chemical elements. We detected eight unexpected elements, including transition metals, such as titanium and zirconium, the metalloid silicon, as well as post-transition metals aluminium and gallium, and the non-metal elements sulphur and fluorine. Some of the elements were detected as trace amounts, but for others, the amount was close to reported toxicological thresholds for inhalation routes. Experimental studies have shown that the detrimental effects of unexpected chemical elements include moderate to severe inflammatory states in the exposed epithelium as well as proliferative changes. Given the massive testing still being used in the context of the COVID pandemic, we urge caution in continuing to recommend repeated and frequent testing, particularly of healthy, non-symptomatic, individuals. MDPI 2023-09-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10610828/ /pubmed/37888657 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel Torres-Solórzano, Verónica Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title | Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title_full | Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title_fullStr | Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title_full_unstemmed | Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title_short | Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing |
title_sort | scanning electron microscopy and edx spectroscopy of commercial swabs used for covid-19 lateral flow testing |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10610828/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37888657 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805 |
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